Parallel
by Pinkiey
Summary: Alex hasn't had an easy going life. Until, a chance encounter with a clock changes everything. Now alone in a strange world she struggles to find herself while facing her fears and meets familiar charactors that help her along the way.
1. Chapter 1

Parallel

Chapter 1

Alex finds herself in a dark room there's nothing but blackness, "heh...hello?" she calls out. Nothing, Out of the corner of her eye a bright purplish pink light appears. "What's that?" slowly Alex walks over to it "it's...so...pretty. I wonder " she reaches for the light and hears a sound weirdly it's a car horn "what the..." she says.

Awaken, the sun rays gleam down on Alex's face making her squint "ugg it was just a dream" she quietly says to herself. She gently rubs her face, stretches her arms and legs. "Ahhh that feels good...I've been having that dream a lot lately and it's always the same every time" she says rising from bed and walks over to her mirror. She scrunches her nose fiddles with her hair and makes a horse noise with her lips. She glances over at the corner of her bureau, there's an empty carton of Chinese take out with chop sticks sticking out and a few pieces of broccoli with chicken at the bottom. Alex picks it up and sniffs it "bleck! you know I've had Chinese a lot before going to bed maybe that's why I'm having those dreams well no more of that!" she says loudly to herself. Holding the carton Alex walks to the kitchen tosses it in the garbage then hears footsteps coming to her direction. A happy cheerful face peeks around the doorway "good morning! It's so beautiful out lets do something today Alex!" is heard Alex scratches her head "I can't Sarah I have to work today its mandatory Monday remember?" she responds. Sarah, a long time friend and roommate she was always a free spirit and being a photographer for the town news paper makes her life even more free. Not much taller than Alex her brunette hair and brown eyes plus curves to match always made her the popular girl in school every guy wanted to date her all the girls hated her Alex envied her. "Oh boo your always working! You never have fun any more what happened to you? You always wanted to do new things and be spontaneous! What happened to that Alex?" Sarah snaps back while folding her arms. Smirking Alex looks at the fridge and sees all the bills due for the end of the month, not to mention rent. "That Alex grew up and has bills to pay and if I remember correctly so do you missy" she playfully replies. "Besides" she adds while making a pot of coffee. "I still have fun just not everyday like you" she finishes a chuckle echoes threw the kitchen reaching Alex's ears. She decides to ignore it Alex never likes to argue before her first cup of the day.

Gurgle gurgle from the coffee maker breaks the silence between them "Fine! Go to work but your making up for it on Saturday Ryan and I are going out and you're coming with us! "Sarah taunts like a 5 year old. Pouring creamer and sugar into a mug Alex lifts her head up "and why would I do that?" Alex questioned "because Ryan's brother brad is coming I told him you were... and...That...you couldn't wait to meet him" Sarah says fast thinking Alex wouldn't catch on. Slamming the mug down Alex cocks her head in Sarah's direction if she could only make her eyes red at this point "YOU WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? "Alex screams" YOU ALWAYS PUSH ME TO GO ON DATES! IT NEVER WORKS BECAUSE THE GUY IS EITHER A MORON OR HE ENDS UP BEING A JERK!" she grips the counter. It creaks from the force of her anger. She takes a deep breathe. "If I don't force it you never do it yourself you are to shy and stubborn to get your own feet wet so I give you a nudge" Sarah calmly replies. A pause comes over the room Sarah now leaning on the door way watches and waits for a response from Alex. Alex on the other hand just wants Sarah to go away so she can have her coffee in piece. a few min pass, Alex still feeling Sarah's presence finally answers "I'm not going I will date on my own time I appreciate the thought but id like to do this myself ok?" a sigh comes from Sarah "I love ya Alex but your hopeless" she says frustrated. "Well I'm off then ill see you later!" a few steps the down the stairs and slam of the door. Finished brewing, Alex pours her cup and sips slowly savoring the piece that she wanted "ahhh at last silence" she says to herself.

Walking threw the hall back into her room Alex notices the time she needs to be at work in 2 hrs "awe damn really so soon?" she puts her coffee down and gets her uniform a coverall, holding it up to make sure it wasn't dirty Alex looks at the logo Scyferous Works it reads with a hammer and wrench overlapping each other making an X shape. A company Alex was hired at not long after she graduated College, her degree is in engineering and restoration and sometimes she does a little mechanic work on the side for some extra cash. Alex has fixed everything from cars to planes her company also makes other machines for other companies that she helps design and build. Placing it on her bed she also gets out a black tube top, black skin tight shorts, and black underwear. Leaving them on the bed Alex enters her bathroom and turns her shower on. Letting the water heat up a bit she undresses throwing her clothes in her hamper next to the sink. Alex opens the curtain a little bit to test the water "hmm that's good" she mumbles. She slips in.

After ten minutes the water stops. Alex bursts out dripping, wrapping up in a soft towel she goes to the mirror. Covered in steam from the shower she uses her hand and wipes it off a blurred image of herself seeps threw. A soft glow seems to pier from her skin. Brushing her long blonde hair the towel slips off reveling her toned body. Alex works in a high energy job with heavy lifting. Abs, muscles on her arms, and thighs are distinctive. turning Alex's tattoo that she got a years ago can now be seen 6 stars 3 are almost the same size, color blue, and in a line 3 are on the sides of the lined ups stars and are purple, red, and yellow. With the steam nearly gone now Alex can see her self clearly she leans in closer. It can't be seen well but Alex has 2 different color eyes one blue one green. Growing up she was always mocked for being different if it wasn't her eyes it was her body as a teen she always had a more muscular build than any usual woman a smaller chest size then all the other girls didn't help either she wasn't flat or any thing but not developed like her other fellow female classmates. It made her very self conscious. Looking at her body in the mirror Alex remembers back to when she was 16 and over heard a conversation between 4 other classmates 3 of them being boys. She remembers they were talking about who they like or would date the girl in the conversation Nadie Swanson who Alex didn't know very well was naming off girls to the boys. Alex's name came up " Alex! Really! Dating her would be like dating a man!" was shouted. Shaking her head Alex snaps back into reality her hair in a loose pony tail she hurries putting on what she laid out for herself throwing on steel toe boots and out the door leaving her coffee still full on her bureau.

Fortunately, for Alex she doesn't live far from her job so she walks to work the same route everyday. Passing bye emits grocery, Texel gas station, and then Fugis Chinese was Alex frequents on her way home. "Not for awhile Fugi" Alex says to her remembering the weird dreams she's been having.

"10, 15, 42" Alex says in her head in front of her locker. Creaking open she gathers her tool belt, safety goggles, and hard hat. Alex being the only woman engineer has her own locker room " heh kind of feels like I have my own office" she laughs Stepping out she is stopped bye her boss Todd Lowdem "hey uh Alex before you come out on the job today we got a call from the museum they have some old artifact that needs fixing" she looks at him puzzled "um rant there people that do that kind of stuff that work at the museum? She asks "well that's what I said but apparently its some sort of clock I don't know I told them that you would do it I mean didn't you go to school for restoration to Alex? In any case here take this to the museum you will be paid for your time" Alex is handed a note on it says Doctor Wallowitz History and Legends department.

Staring at the note given to her Alex glances up at the museums entrance it hadn't changed much since she had been here witch was on a school field trip. "Well might as well get this over with" saying to herself. walking inside she sees a tour guide "excuse me I'm here to see doctor Wallowitz were can I find him?" the woman holds out her arm and points in front of them " just go straight its the first door on your left" she unhappily says. deciding to stroll Alex as she passes by glances at all the wax figures, old bones, and stuffed wild animals "nope hasn't changed one bit" she says. Making it to the department door Alex knocks twice and waits. A mans voice yells out "who's there!" Alex yells back "Uh Scyferous works sir you called cuz you needed something fixed?" a moment of silence "Ah! Yes! Come in!" she opens the door and slowly inches in she takes a look around. Shelves upon shelves of books and jars with dead animals in them, a computer desk and a separate desk with yet more books. Cobra skin perfectly preserved sat on its own stand next to a pencil holder. not seeing any one she calls out "Doctor Wallowitz?" she waits a tall skinny man with glasses appears with a clipboard writing and talking at the same time "contents of box well intact..." he looks at her "oh hello can I help you?" Alex shifts her weight "um I'm here to fix.." he cuts in " OH YES THE CLOCK SILLY ME COME THIS WAY!" rounding a corner the doctor steps on a stool in front of a rack of shelves reaches up grabs a box steps down and places it on a bench against a wall next to Alex " your lucky miss not many people get to touch a rare gem such as this one" he blurts out. Opening the box with such care he pulls out a gold framed item about the size of a small plate and places it on the bench "here it is! this is the clock of Norte please be very careful with it its very old and a prize possession here" the doctor orders Alex walks over to the clock and picks it up she notices that it has hands like a clock but no numbers "how does it tell time?" she pondered shrugging her shoulders Alex gets to work taking the back off she cant help but ask " so what's the deal with this clock any ways?" a few seconds of silence the doctor peeks his head out " that my dear is the clock of Norte its a mysterious item that was found many years ago on a dig in the desert" Alex more interested " so I don't understand this is a clock right? so why doesn't it have numbers on it?" hearing the doctors voice come in " well its been said that the clock of Norte is not a clock that tells time rather it is theorized that it actually has the power to send a traveler in and out of different parallel dimensions" Lifting up her eyebrow Alex stopped her work and flipped the clock back over looking closer she doesn't see anything different of that of any other clock minus the numbers of course " just looks like a weird clock to me who is supposed to use this any ways?" she says while resuming her work carrying thick books the doctor walks past Alex and arranges them in order on a shelf behind her he explains " well it has been read that only one pure of heart, hidden power and strength, and baring the mark can wield it of course its never been confirmed" he explains he turns back to continue his organizing.

An hour passes, "almost done! Just have to do this part screw the back plate on and its fixed" she informs. Alex at this point has unzipped and removed the top part of her coverall for such a lil thing it was making her sweat. The doctor for most of the time was in the other part of his office reading and doing computer work. "oh good give me a second here" she hears feeling a cramp in her neck Alex stands up while screwing on the back plate the doctor heads over to Alex and immediately sees her tattoo "that...that...tattoo" his words stuttered leaving his mouth Alex looks up at him and then down at her shoulder. "Oh this? You like it? I got this a couple years back" she says smiling " you...bare the mark" he replies the last screw locks in Alex flips the clock facing her and touches the glass she looks up at the doctor again " huh? What does mean it's just a tattoo" she tells him. she notices that the doc seems shaken suddenly Alex feels a vibration go threw her body " what the...what the hell was that?" she thought looking at her herself clock still in hand the doc gains his composure " you bare the mark" he says Alex jerks her head towards him " 3 stars in a line 3 are at the sides 3 pigments are of the same 3 are not and looks as if in play" he lets out. Strangely looking at him a light bursts from the clock stunned Alex try's to move and put it down but she is frozen "what the hell is this!" she says worried "The clock has chosen you!" the doc cries the light grows brighter blinding them both letting out a scream Alex is sucked into the light and vanishes.

Slowly opening her eyes Alex is surrounded bye people all of them whispering to each other. eyes now in focus she can see everyone's face around her all of them in clothes she'd never seen before and weird hair styles "who are these people" she thought sitting up Alex squints from the pain in her back " ow! What happened?" she groans. One woman kneels down to her and speaks "We were all just going about our day and we heard a loud bang and here you are!" Alex is now confused she doesn't remember coming outside "Excuse me could you point me to the museum?" she asks. The woman wrenches back and tilts her head to the side "muse...um? What's that?" the woman says "wait what? Museums you know were old artifacts and stuff go for people to look at?" Alex says stunned. The woman laughs and moves to help her up " we don't have any of those around here you must of hit your head really hard young lady" she remarks. Not able to understand how this woman doesn't know what a museum is Alex gets up and looks around behind her is a dirt road with a grass field on either side stretching for what looked like miles. looking to the front there's what looks like a city Alex can see cars and people walking in and out of buildings "there!" she yells running to it hoping to see something familiar "the museum is this way I know it!" she adds running full speed in Alex puts the brakes on and looks around shops with strange goods can be seen all over she even sees a shop for weapons "what in the world? Weapons what for?" she thought. Alex also sees clothing and jewelry booths as well as places to eat "I don't understand where am I?" Alex asks out loud the woman who spoke to her earlier stops beside her " you're in Davenport sweetie" she answers with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Davenport? What part of America is that?" Alex questions. Turning to her the woman's face went from a smile to confused. She stared blankly into Alex's eyes for a min she says with a giggle "America? Museum? I've never heard of such things" wide eyed Alex puts her hand to her face and stokes her fingers on her forehead " she's never heard of a museum before or America? What happened?" Alex thought to herself. The woman still standing next to her rummages threw a bag she was carrying. She pulls out something wrapped up in a pink foil. Mean while people are passing by with bags and boxes or just walking hand in hand with there loved ones or children plus the occasional car. hearing the crinkling of the wrapper Alex glances up at the woman she pops in her mouth what looks like candy she puts the foil in her bag and realizes Alex is watching her " want one?" she asks, Alex shakes her head no and looks at her feet seeing she still has her steel toe boots on and her coverall half off. Feeling a chill she covers up " do you have any were to stay sweetie?" she hears the woman ask. finishing zipping up " uh well no I guess not" Alex replies standing up facing her "well you can stay with me as long as you need to you can help me with work and ill pay you" she says happily."Uh...wow...thank you so much" Alex says thrown back by her kindness. The woman smiles at her and starts to walk "It's this way sweetie" she tells her. Alex follows her continuously looking side to side at all the shops and booths. People with gun holsters and staffs with blades at the ends carried on backs of men and women she even saw knives in holsters of there own. Alex can't help but stare some of these weapons she has never seen before or the wardrobes. Pants seemingly made of all belts, long coats with many pockets flowing to the ground, and masks over some of there faces. "So weird" Alex thought to herself "this way!" Alex hears from a distance, looking in front of her Alex sees the woman waving to her then walks into a building. Catching up she stops at the front door the woman comes out " this is it this my place I live up top and my business is threw here" she says guiding Alex threw. She sees tables with numbers on the sides of them and chairs all lined up. Looking further Alex can see a counter with a register on the far left near a window. Beyond that is a wall with shelves and an opening to what looked like a kitchen. "This is your business?" Alex asks walking a lil in front of the woman "yup its all mine" she hears from behind her the woman walks in front of Alex then stops and turns to her " bye the way I didn't catch your name I'm Fara" she informs. Running her fingers threw her hair Alex answers "I'm Alex" Fara, smiled so hard her eyes closed " Alex?… hmm... well nice to meet you Alex come ill show you around" Fara says making her way to the back Alex follows. She is shown the kitchen area as well as behind the counter she saw earlier. Fara tells Alex were things are kept and stored as well as what to say to customers. it dawns on Alex that this is a diner of some sorts and reminisces working at Thelma's while she finished school it has been a while since she has worked in this setting but feels confident she can handle it " I know this stuff how hard can it be?" thinking to herself. Farah shows her were beverages are kept thankfully milk, juice, and coffee are called the same here as well as alcohol witch she only seemed to sell whiskey and beer she also is told sometimes its called Ale. a beverage that she wasn't familiar with that Fara made her self was dark in color misty in texture and came in a tall glass " this is my signature drink stone grit its pretty strong so if you ever want to try it just be careful it will knock you off your feet" Fara explains holding up the glass to her. Alex makes a stink face " Ill take your word for it" she chuckles while looking threw the opening to the kitchen. Fara hands Alex the menu and explains each dish and how to write them down giving her a pad and pen with a pouch much like a waitress " now you don't have to worry about the register I deal with that the cook comes in 2 hrs before we open to prep so if your down here before me his name is Gurdo now come with me" Fara explains leading Alex to a back door with stairs going up to an apartment. walking threw Alex can see photos on a wall, a couch, and coffee table with a TV " well here we are kitchen is this way bathroom is past the kitchen and ill show u were you'll be staying" taking Alex's arm Fara brings her to a closed door opens it and walks her in. a bureau and bed only occupy the room. Looking to the right Alex can see an empty closet with no door attached with a lot of hangers. She sits on the bed and scans the room a window over the bed is hidden by a thick curtain opening it the sun pokes threw lighting the small room. Alex can see the street she and Fara were walking on. A shop called Rage can be clearly seen, buildings next to Fara's witch were taller concealed the rest of the road Alex wondered what was further. Feeling something hitting the bed Alex looks down. A pile of clothes sit next to her "Here sweetie you must want to get out of that into something more comfortable" Fara says, looking to Fara then the clothes again "thank you so much Fara" she softly says. With a smile Fara turns and walks to the kitchen making noises that sounded like she was starting to cook. taking each piece of clothing out and looking at them closely Alex saw that they were the same type of style she saw other people wearing on the street just not as extreme. Unzipping Alex put on a black shirt witch resembled a cotton v-neck top. Across the chest was a piece of blue leather witch formed to her breasts and went all the way around to the back. The pants she chose reminding her of khakis they were an olive green color had huge pockets and fit her perfectly. A lil baggy at the ankles Alex put her boots on tucking the front of the cuffs under the boot tongues. Taking out her pony tail to fix it her side bangs fall just at her cheek the rest go past her shoulders to the middle of her back. Being that her hair was pin straight any ways it wasn't much of a fix. pulling it back into a pony tail only this time putting it more to the side causing her hair to fall over to on to her chest. looking herself over Alex starts to think of the events so far contemplating weather this is real or she was dreaming suddenly it comes to her " oh my god the clock" she says in a whisper remembering she was fixing it for her job. " I remember now" she continues " when I was done a light came out and I woke up here" she says falling back to the bed Alex puts her head in her hands and sits in the silence "what do I do now?" she thinks. A few moments later hearing the noises from the kitchen Alex enters to lend a hand. She sees Fara stirring in a pot and flipping something in a frying pan "smells good do you need any help?" she asks. turning only her head to Alex "no sweetie thank you though" she sees what Alex is wearing "well now look at you the boys are gonna go nuts around here!" she shouts excitedly putting her hands together "those fit great tomorrow well go shopping for more outfits" embarrassed Alex folds her arms and looks away "what?...uh heh...I don't think so" Alex plays with her hair " and please you don't have to buy me any clothes what you gave me is enough for now your already doing so much for me" she adds. "don't be silly those will only last you so long I'm happy to do it besides your helping me out" Fara says back. Alex wanted to keep telling her no but realizes that she is alone and is probably happy to have the company she decides to abandon it and let her be. Leaving Fara to the cooking Alex heads for the room she saw when she first walked in. on the wall to the left of her the old photos she noticed before were hanging in an offset pattern. Looking closer Alex sees a woman, its Fara with older people. "These must be her parents" she says to herself. Another photo is a younger Fara with a man his arm around her waist and their smiling. "Hmm husband?" again to herself. A few other photos are of children playing with a dog and a beautiful sunset. "How pretty" she whispered "that was taken at Costa del sol a long time ago" startled Alex turns and sees Fara standing behind her. she walks over to the wall and looks over the pictures pointing to each one " these are my parents they died 5 years ago" Alex shifts her eyes to the picture with Fara and the older couple "this is me and my husband" she says pointing to the other picture with the young man in it " this was me as child with my sister and our dog Jardie" she says putting her hand on the picture. Alex can't help but notice Fara was looking as if she was going to cry. She steps closer to her "have they all died?" Alex asks. Fara pauses and takes a deep breathe "yes" she says softly. Feeling bad for asking Alex puts her hand on Fara's shoulder to comfort her "I'm sorry Fara" Alex calmly replies. turning to her Fara makes a half smile she puts her hand on Alex's cheek "its ok" she finally says looking in to Alex's eyes for a min she sees something "hmm how interesting" she blurts out not sure what she means Alex lifts her eyebrow "what is?" she asks Fara . She stares deeper into Alex's eyes making her feel a little uncomfortable. Fara is amazed at what she sees. "You have 2 different color eyes" Fara says Alex jerks her head away "uh...ya I was born with them" she mumbles while rubbing her elbow. Fara lifts Alex's head bye her chin "how unique I've never seen that before there quite beautiful" she adds. Alex takes her head away and backs up a few steps "thanks" she responds Fara looks once more at the wall she starts to move "come on its ready" she says walking to the kitchen. Hearing plates and utensils being handled Alex heads in after her.

Opening her eyes slowly and a bit blurry Alex sits up and rubs her face. Looking around she sees the room hasn't changed "I was hoping it was all a dream and wake up in my own bed" she thinks in her head. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she forgets she went to sleep naked to preserve her clothes. Removing the sheet, Alex stands up and dresses in what she wore last night. Running down the stairs to Fara's diner she passes the kitchen entrance and sees a man working the grills. "That must be Gurdo" Alex says in normal tone. A tall man with a gut and strong features and dressed almost like he was from Alex's world. "Ah! Alex your up good I was just going to come get you!" she hears Fara call out she pulls Alex bye her arm into the kitchen "Gurdo this is Alex she's going to be taking and delivering orders" Fara introduces a moment of silence Alex speaks first " hi Gurdo" . maneuvering tongs and a spatula he lifts his head up for a sec " hi" he greets and hurries it down again then he stops and brings his head back up slowly and glares at Alex he looks her up and down "hello" he says with dazed eyes. It made Alex feel uneasy. Fara then yanks her out front and puts her pouch on her. She starts to walk to the back. Alex then has a thought "wait Fara?" She says frantically. Fara stops she runs to her "what about money? What do you use here?" she questions. Fara reaches into her pocket and pulls out a thick silver coin and tosses to Alex forcing her to catch it " its called Gil like I said don't worry about the register ill handle that and if anyone leaves some of that behind for you keep it" Fara says walking into the back and comes out with a stack of napkins." a tip huh? This is exactly like Thelma's how ironic" she says laughing to herself. Hearing an unlocking sound she sees Fara at the door she then hurries behind the counter "hope your ready" she quickly says as she fly's past. Alex puts her pad in her pouch and sticks her pen threw her pony tail holding it in place "I'm ready" she thinks in her head. The doors burst open and a mob of people stampede threw splitting off in different directions some went to the counter. Fara greeted them as if old friends the rest to the tables. Alex goes to the first table 2 men sat facing each other buried in the menus "hi! I'm Alex ill be serving you can I start you guys off with something?" she announced. still fixed on the menus both the men in unison say "hi" a sec goes by one speaks up "yes ill have a coffee milk and sugar on the side please" he glances up the expression on his face was the same of Gurdo's when he met her "your...the new...server? He adds still looking shocked. Wierded out Alex puts on a happy face "yup" she answers. Not taking his eyes off of her he flicks the other mans menu to get his attention "what!" he shouts at him only moving his eyes he motions the other man to look at her. As he does his face follows the same pattern as the other man and Gurdo "uh ill...have...the same" he answers. Both there eyes dancing around looking from each other to her and back again. Alex needed to walk away "ok ill be right back with those" she cheerfully said. The whole day consisted of just that. Being glared at and whispered about Alex wasn't sure really how to take this but she knew she had to put on a brave face for Fara. Hours of taking orders delivering them and being starred down each person more so than the next. Alex did her best to just ignore it and besides business was booming and as creepy as everyone acted Alex was getting some serious tips she couldn't fit the newly learned about Gil in her pouch any more. As the day winded down Alex felt proud of her self she made it threw. With nonstop weird glares and stares every time she turned around more and more people seemed fixated on her. But never the less, Alex felt good to help Fara out in return for what she has done for her. The last customers leave; Fara closes and locks the door for the night "Whew! What a day huh? Hasn't been that busy in forever" Fara says wiping her forehead. Alex, taking the last bit of dirty dishes to the sink she suddenly felt eyes on her looking in all directions she sees that it's Gurdo. The same stare she saw from earlier "ok...creepy" she thought. She turns around and proceeds to wash. Fara counting the day's total jumps around like a puppy "we made 15k Gil today unbelievable!" she shouts. Alex lets out a small smile she had a feeling as to why today's earnings were so high but she thought best to not mention it. Flopping on a stool Alex lets out a sigh while resting her head on one hand. taking the till Fara pays Gurdo she looks to Alex "stay here ill be right back" she takes her leave up the stairs to the apartment not long after Alex feels Gurdo eyes locking on her as he left. She dared not to look it was bad enough it was a hole day of that she kept her eyes forward. She hears the doors open and close locking afterwards "Whew" Alex lets out. Hearing footsteps Fara appears with her bag she takes out a smaller bag looking a lil worn and black in color with one strap she hands it to Alex "here use this to carry your Gil" she says. Taking it Alex opens it up and dumps her tips in. Fara amazed can only watch it seemed never ending. "Right well let's go" Fara loudly states. "Go? Go were?" Alex questions almost to the door Fara turns to her "I told you that we would get you more clothes after work remember?" she tells her. Throwing her bag over her shoulder Alex follows.

Its late afternoon and its not as busy as it was the day before, walking side by side Alex and Fara go from shop to shop buying shoes, tops, pants, socks, underwear and anything else needed. barley being able to carry everything Alex stops to get a better grip on them a feeling comes over her, not seeing the street any more she's now seeing just a dark out line of a person this causes Alex to loose control of her breathing gasping for air she now sees that its a man with spiky hair she cant see his face or make the rest of him out very well but he's carry something large strapped to him. Alex regains her breathing and her vision goes back to normal only to see Fara in her face "oh my goodness Alex are you alright?" She shouts. Not knowing what just happened Alex didn't want to worry Fara any more "I'm fine Fara lets go back" she assures agreeing they make way to Fara's. Throwing her newly purchased items on her bed Alex pushes them over and sits. She can't help but think about it she couldn't get that image out of her mind. "Who was he? And...what made that happen?" thinking to herself hearing a tap on her door Alex is forced to put that in the back of her mind "come in" she yells. Fara walks in with water she places it on the beauru "Are you sure you're alright Alex?" she asks sounding concerned. Alex didn't want to discuss what she saw because she didn't know herself plus she didn't want her to think she was crazy. "I'm fine Fara I'm gonna put these away and lay down for a while" she says smiling .Fara pushes Alex's bangs from her face "ok ill come get you when dinner is ready" Fara says making her exit the door closes behind her. Alex puts all of her new things away tosses the empty bags on the floor and crawls on to her bed. Putting one hand behind her head and the other on her stomach Alex looks up to her ceiling for a room not used it was actually pretty clean not dusty or yellow with age. Her eyelids slips downward Alex tries to fight it but from the day she's had it's a loosing battle so she embraces it and falls asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A few weeks pass or so Alex at this point can't tell anymore how long it's been. She started her own calendar that hung on her door it didn't have months just the days of the week it gave her a sense of normalcy. Day in and day out working at Fara's Alex became a hot commodity in the city. Fara's was busy from open to close every one young and old flocked in to get a glimpse of the strange the new girl. Alex had to buy a new pouch to switch quickly when the other became heavy from tips.

Fara, counting the day's earnings, Alex pushes the last bit of chairs in and stands opposite of her. "Wow 25k gil today I hope business keeps up like this it's been nice to have extra money for things" Fara says putting the Gil in her bag. Alex knowing that it's mostly because of her being there she plays dumb "well nice weather makes everyone venture out" she says casually. Fara smiles at her then walks up the stairs to the apartment Alex can hear her footsteps stomping around above her. Wiping off the counter Gurdo comes out from the kitchen seeing him she shifts her eyes in his direction. He sees her and stops in his tracks. Even though Alex has been working there for weeks she catches him now and then sneaking peeks at her. The both of them facing each other a pin could be heard dropping. Alex breaks the silence "See you tomorrow Gurdo" she smiles with a wave. Surprised Gurdo nods and quickly says "bye" he walks out the door. Alex sees him pass by the windows in the front; she watches his figure fade away down the street. "Strange guy" thinking to herself. Putting her tips in the bag Fara gave her Alex wants to take stroll around the city she has only seen up and down the street Fara's was on. Alex opens the door leading to upstairs "Fara I'm gonna take a walk ill be back later" she calls out "Ok be careful" is faintly heard. Locking the door behind her Alex faces the weapons store that's right across from Fara's she's wanted to go in there but there is always so many people "Another time" she lets out. Making her way further down she comes to a jewelry shop she's has seen many times before while out on errands with Fara. Looking in threw the window glass Alex could see necklaces, bracelets, and rings baring strange stones some that glowed with beautiful patterns etched in all of them silver. "Do they not have gold in this world?" she says under her breath. Still window shopping Alex hears a conversation between 2 women one having a low soft voice and the other was high pitched and girly. Trying not to ease drop Alex keeps her self facing the glass for some reason she listened in "Come on I wanna get some materia before all the good ones are gone!" The girly one shouted "Ok ok calm down were going" the other replied "materia?" Alex randomly thought. She heard them walk on the opposite side of the street pretending to be interested in the jewelry Alex keeps her eyes fixed on a necklace the pendant was heart shaped and light pink. The 2 carried on there conversation as they past. Alex was on the side of the building they had walked far enough down were she wouldn't be noticed listening in. She could only see the back of them; the high pitched voice came from a small short haired brunette. The other was also brunette but taller and her hair was much longer they stop in front of a store and talk for a min. Alex couldn't really hear what they were saying all she heard was mumbles the city noises were drowning them out. Still, she kept watching. As they talked more a tall man in dark clothes approaches them from there reaction they seemed to know him. Only seeing the back him he had short spiky blonde hair wore a grey pack that had extra fabric hanging down to his feet his shirt was navy blue and looked like a turtle neck and sleeveless . His pants a foreign fabric to Alex was charcoal in color. On him was something Alex has never seen before it had many slots one slot she saw had a huge long sword sticking out of it. Alex's eyes widened it was almost as big as the short girl. The man shifts his body and turns his head slightly exposing some of his cheek. Trying to get a good look a memory flashes in her head of the second night she was here while shopping with Fara. There was no mistaking it was all the same the spiked hair the way he was standing "It cant be?" she thought out loud. The Man suddenly walks away rounding a corner leading to another street the 2 girls proceeded into the store. Alex wanted to follow him she was curious of who he was her legs though didn't. "My feet are killing me time to go back" she says rubbing her ankle.

Climbing up the stairs Alex passes Fara in the kitchen filling up a pot from the faucet "How did you make out?" she's asks. Alex stops at her room door "Um fine" Alex unsurely responds. The water turns off "Well dinner will be ready soon" is followed. Closing her door silently behind her Alex drops her bag to the floor and plops on the bed. Now looking like a dorm room more clothes filled the once bare closet. The top of the bureau now cluttered with grooming products and a few new pairs of shoes accompanied her boots on the floor. Hanging her hands down elbows touching her knees Alex's mind goes back to the man and compared it once more to what she saw that night with Fara "Maybe its just a coincidence that the 2 looked the same" she pondered. Thinking harder about it there was one consistent element the large something that they had on them. Alex closed her eyes and drew the image back she could see the figure it was defiantly a man, and his back is to her. Primarily focusing on what ever this thing was she try's to make it out. Something long that stuck out the side of him and slender "A handle maybe?" she whispered. Working her way down some of it was blacked out like there was something over it. She skips over and goes down further she sees something she didn't before part of what was there wasn't covered in fact now she remembers it had a shine to it like it was "a blade" she firmly states while opening her eyes " so...it...was him but...why?" she asked herself. Still not understanding the significance she rests her head on her hand and sees the calendar she made to keep track of the days making her miss home. her thoughts then go to what happened before she came here she remembers what the doc told her his voice echoes in her brain "Its a clock that sends a traveler in and out of parallel dimensions" Alex replayed that statement over and over in her head. Keeping it in mind standing, she starts to pace playing and rewinding that moment it comes to her "Wait" she says "Travel in and out a clock would have to be in every dimension to do that. So that must mean...a clock is here to!" she shouts there's a knock Alex rights herself "Yes?" she calmly says "Alex dinners ready" is muffled from the other side "Be right there" she informs. Alex now realizes what she has to do she needs to find the clock so she can get home. She suspected that it wouldn't be here possibly somewhere little to no people reside so that would mean shed have to leave. "But..." she thinks about Fara. She felt bad about leaving her over the weeks Fara became like a mother to Alex she would be alone again and it made a sick feeling in her stomach she knew it would hurt fara to see her go. "I don't have a choice I wanna go home" she says trying not to cry.

"You're leaving!" Fara says while taking the dirty dishes to the sink. "Yes" Alex answers softly "I'm sorry fara but its something I have to do" she adds. Alex sees that Fara is saddened by this she must have wanted her to stay. Fara darts to the room with the photos Alex races after her. She sees Fara sitting on the couch she looked as if she's about to sob it made it harder for Alex to stick with her decision "I knew this would come one day" Fara lets out she looks to Alex and puts her hand out on the couch and taps the cushion wanting Alex to sit next to her. Alex slowly walks to the couch and does so. Alex glances at Fara she sees she's holding her tears Alex cant believe she made her feel this way she's done nothing but give her a place to live and food to eat she opens her mouth to take it back Fara interrupts her "You don't belong here" she says turning her head to face her. Alex stunned sits back "How does she know?" Alex thinks "I knew it the first time I laid eyes on you" Fara continues "Your looks your clothes the things you would say and you didn't even know what Gil was... I just knew" she finishes with a smile. Fara takes Alex's hand into hers the other she presses on her cheek " I'm sad to see you go but I know in my heart I have to let you" Alex now feels as if she is about to cry. She never liked to cry even if it was sad enough to she didn't like to show weakness she swallows it down and held it in.

Belongs packed and in hand Alex and Fara stand in front of her place saying there good byes. "You have everything you need?" Fara asks. Looking over Alex can't imagine forgetting any thing or being able to carry any more "yup pretty sure" she says confidently. Fara then pulls out a box and hands it to Alex "please take this" she says. Blinking a few times Alex opens it and inside are a set of black bands with compartments attached to them Alex looks up at Fara confused "They were my husbands there called griffins" she informs taking one of the straps and flipping open one of the compartments reveals a knife inside it. Alex holding the box with one hand she grasps the handle and unsheathes it. Eyebrows lifted Alex gazes at the artwork and craftsmanship. It was a steel blade with two separate points leading up the tip it had a slight curve the handle was solid and had holes in it alex guessed for finger placement "I cant take this it wouldn't be right" Alex try's to give them back. Fara puts up her hand and stops her "I insist there are a lot of people and beings out there who would take advantage of a lone traveler such as yourself" Alex couldn't help but zone in on one word she said "beings?" thinking to herself. Feeling something on her legs Alex peered down she sees Fara strapping the bands on. The knives facing outward she takes the box from Alex "They go on just like that" she instructs. Inspecting them Alex didn't think she needed them but knew it would make Fara happy to know they would be put to good use one way or another. "Thank you Fara for everything" Alex says affectionately. Fara fixes Alex's hair "Happy to do it if you ever need to come back you always have a place here take care of yourself now"Fara tells her. Alex let out a smile waved turned and was on her way she wasn't sure were she was going nor knew what was out there. Alex only knew she had to try but she made herself a promise if the clock is never found she would be back.

Rounding a bush Alex trips on a root and looses her footing lucky she catches her self before falling. "God damn it" she says aggravated. It's been 2 days since she left Davenport she didn't know witch direction she was going or if there was even a city or town near by. Alex figured she would surely stumble upon one if she ventured long enough. Trees and heavy foliage almost seemed to want to swallow Alex. "Cant I have a break from this for one damn second please?" she grunts pushing her way threw the dense forest her arms and hands had old and new cuts all over. Her pants had grass and dirt stains on them it would show any one just how long she has been traveling. Her bag gets caught on a small tree in front of heavy shrubs it jerks her back she reaches her left arm over trying to feel were it's snagged not being able to find it she grabs hold of it "Let go you bastard!" she yells gritting her teethe and pulls as hard as she can. It releases sending Alex flying into the bushes rolling out the other side down a small hill she gets up and pats herself down "Just my luck" she says silently. She lifts up her right arm and wipes if off with the other she moves her attention past her arm and jumps in excitement "Yes!" she shouts. It was a large river flowing at a good pace separating the forest making the sky visible. She gathers her bag and walks to the edge. She examines the water fish can be seen just under the surface making her become hungry. Alex hadn't eaten or rested much since leaving Fara this was the perfect opportunity to do so because she didn't know if she would get this chance again. Dropping her bag at her feet Alex looks around. She sees a lot of dead wood not far from wear she stood, decent sized rocks were also abundant "Good I have what I need to build a fire" she thought. Finding about the same size rocks she arranges them in a circle trip after trip she accumulates all the dead wood. Taking smaller pieces from the pile she makes a teepee for kindling her uses dead leaves. "Now to get it started" she says while putting her hands on her hips. Taking a minute to think about how to get it going her ears catch the sound of something moving threw the bushes. She scans the area she sees shrubs' moving on the other side of the river her instinct makes her crouch down behind the dead wood. Not seeing any thing yet she keeps watch only peeking her eyes around the pile. It emerges on all fours a huge dinosaur looking creature steps into the clearing it was brownish in color with long sharp laws and teethe that stuck out from the gum line. It was 5 times the size of Alex its tail was the height of a bus. Alex can't believe what she sees she made sure she stayed hidden something told her that it wasn't friendly. It makes a B line straight for the river its feet vibrating the ground as it moved and drinks, every so often it would pop its heads up and look around. Alex can only sit tight and wait hoping it doesn't realize she's there. Something jolts into her mind what Fara had told her the 'beings' she had mentioned. "Is that what she ment?" She thought. The creature stops quenching its thirst it thrusts its head up towards the wood pile it stares intently at it, it sniffs the air. Alex starts to worry it must of caught her scent if it comes after her she doesn't stand a chance against it even so she remembers the griffins Fara gave to her. She quietly moves her hand to her leg and flips open one holster clenching the handle. It continues smelling the air its eyes locked were she was. Alex is now ready for a fight the odds were against her she wasn't gonna make it easy for it though to kill her if it came down to it. The creature's behavior then changes it twists its body around turning to the forest the ground shaking as it disappears its tail the last thing she sees then nothing, only hearing its footsteps and rustling of branches growing faint as it left. Alex collapses on her butt her heart about to jump out of her chest knowing full well that was lucky and next time she may not be. The light is fading a few strands of sun light were left she only has a short time to get the fire going now but wasn't sure how to do it. She didn't have glass to concentrate the beam or flint she goes threw her bag to see what she can find. Sifting to the bottom she sees a small metal box that had Alex's name on it she takes it out and opens it "Heh awesome" she says looking inside. Rows and rows of matches must have been Fara's doing. She flicks one throws it into the hand made pit instantly flames creep out Alex throws a few big logs on. Now that the fire was set she wondered if she could make a bed she had a lot of clothes to layer up all she would need is a cushion to sleep on. Back in the forest she test out leaves for softness some were to prickly others to stiff. Brushing up against a medium sized tree it felt as soft as a feathers she breaks as many as she can off and drags them to her campsite putting them in a circle shape fluffing them up. "That takes care of that...now...what about the fish?" she asks herself she didn't have bait or a hook to get them. In the midst of planning this out she looks down to the wood pile she sees a perfectly straight stick "I could make that into a spear and catch them that way" she thought. Making a sharp tip with one of the griffins she stands at the river there were a lot of them. Some big some small she hovered the spear over one and waited for the right moment. She throws it in making a small splash it felt heavy picking it up she sees there's a fish skewered on it "Wow first shot!" she hollers. Over and over again throwing the spear in she catches 4 good sized fish. Taking them over to the fire she guts them all on a rock something she learned camping with her dad as a kid "Thanks dad" she mutters making them into fish kabobs. Throwing the last bits of fish in the fire Alex happily rubs her full stomach "Much better" she says out loud. Only seeing blackness around her she looks up to the sky. Clusters of stars shined brighter than the ones at home some even twinkled. "Ahh what a day" she yawns throwing more logs onto the fire. She crawls in her make shift mattress curls up glancing at the stars once more she falls in to a deep sleep.

5 more days, pitter patter of Alex's feet make crunching sounds in the dirt. Were ever she's ended up it has become much hotter than when she was near Davenport she cut one pair of pants in to shorts and made one of her shirts into a tank top. Using the scrap cloth as a rag to wipe the sweat from her. She hasn't seen one person since Davenport or any sign of civilization. she comes to a rock and sits, not seeing any one is making her nervous she was hoping she would have at least hit a town by now "If only this forest wasn't so thick if I could just get out of this" she said to herself. She rests her cheek on her palm she sees there's a tree right next to the rock she was sitting on. She places her other hand on it moving her head upward she can see the sky poking threw above. Looking to the other trees they really didn't look that tall "Hmm" she utters. She takes off her bag and leaves it on the rock stands up on it grabbing for the first branch. Alex figures if she climbs to the top she can see over the tree line maybe she would see roofs of buildings close by. 6 branches up she can now see over the brush "Just a lil higher" she lets out scaling upward she stops. She can not go any further but it was enough. Panning the horizon there was forest as far as she could see it's a major upset "Man...This isn't good" she says under her breath not knowing what was about to happen.

2 women and a man stop at the tree Alex is on "Are you sure it's this way?" one of the women asks the man. He turns around "Yeah not much further" he answers. The other woman with them sees Alex's bag on the rock "What's this?" she blurts out the 2 others look at it. They all gather around one woman takes the bag and opens it "Whoa! Look at all that Gil!" she reaches in to grab it. The other woman smacks her hand away "That's not yours" she yells she closes the bag "Well then whose is it?" the other woman asks holding it. They all start to look around the man looks behind the tree some bark falls on his head forcing him to look up. He sees a person at the top of the tree "Hey guys" he calls to them in a calm voice they look to him. He looks up they follow "There's someone up there!" one of the women shouts amazed "How in the world?" the other woman questions. Meanwhile up in the tree Alex has to make a choice of what to do now does she keep going? Or does she give up and go back to Fara's? Was she just destined to stay here? Contemplating this she hears a man's voice yell to her "HEY!" It startles Alex causing her to loose her balance making her fall a loud thud is made on impact. She can hear footsteps running to her "Are you alright?" is asked to her face down Alex feels a throbbing pain on her forehead she puts her hand on it covering most of her face. She flips over and sits up "Uggg ya my face broke my fall I'm good" Alex says griping in pain a few chuckles are heard. "What were you doing up in the tree?" one of the women asks keeping her hand on her face Alex's vision is blurred from the pain she shuts her eyes "I was trying to see if there was a town or city nearby" she says fighting the pain. Alex then feels something warm going down her face. She uses her other hand to feel what it is but can't see it "You're bleeding!" one of the women screams. Alex then hears someone sit next to her "Here put this on it" is said. It sounded like the male voice that she heard before she fell it was raspy. She feels a hand move hers off her wound a rag is slapped on it also covering mostly her face "press down" the man orders as she does the other 2 sit beside her. "Were you coming from?" one woman asks/ Alex rubs her eyes trying to get her sight back "Uh davenport" Alex answers still rubbing. Another woman's voice comes threw "Are you bye yourself?" she questions. Before Alex can respond the man cuts her off "Davenport is a week on foot from here" Alex laughs a lil "Heh yea… and that sounds about right" Alex says. A quick silence comes over them, Alex opens her eyes again this time she can see a lil bit better she leaves them open. She feels the same hand again "Let me see" the man asks she takes her hand away he lifts a small part of the rag just exposing the wound he presses back down on it. She slouches putting her weight on his hand "You've survived a week out here? Its dangerous alone that's impressive" he compliments, it made Alex smile. He lifts the rag up once more the wound has now stopped bleeding "Bye the way sorry" he apologies while lifting the rag off of Alex's face. She can see much better now and the pain wasn't as bad as before "Its..."She starts to say as they lock eyes. They were bright blue his blonde hair was short and stood straight up in some places his bangs hung on his forehead and off the sides of his face unevenly his lips were sweet heart shaped. Alex couldn't stop starring he was so handsome. In turn he was kind of making the same face Gurdo did when Alex was first introduced to him. Still holding the rag he breaks the stare throwing it off the side. Alex runs her hand threw her hair trying not to look at him she peeks any ways this time she got a glimpse of his body. He wore a sleeveless shirt showing off muscular arms one of them had a pink ribbon tied around it, black gloves worn on his hands one arm looked like it had an extension of the glove in the same material it didn't even reach his elbow. His eyes go back to her she makes hers look down she try's not to but gazes back at him, a few moments of awkward silence, one of the women speaks. "So were you heading?" Alex looking to her she can see she had long brown hair she wore a black leather zipped up tank she also had a pink ribbon on one of her arms "uh I dunno" Alex answers "were are you guys going?" she adds the woman in leather opens her mouth to speak another woman voice answers instead "Were going to Costa!" Alex turns her attention to the area the voice came from it was very young sounding almost childlike. She had a thick long head band on with short brown hair and a sleeveless vest. She to like the others wore a pink ribbon on one of her arms. "Costa?" Alex remembers the photo from Fara's how beautiful it was. She stands even though she was about ready to she didn't want to throw in the towel she wanted to give her all before resorting to that. "How do I get there?" she asks while tossing her bag over her shoulder "About 25 miles that way" the woman in the leather says pointing to the left of her. Alex takes a breath "Well I should get moving then I've got a lot of ground to cover" she says with a quick wave she looks to the man once more he does the same she turns and dissolves into the brush.

"We could of brought her there you know were going to the same place" the young one states. The women walked together the man was a few steps in front he answers with out stopping "she made it this far shell be fine" she folds her arms still walking "yea she was just fine till you came along and almost to killed her" she jokes. The man stops and zips around "For the last time it was an accident" he snaps both women laugh he rubs the corner of his eyes in frustration. "But she's hurt she might not be fine" the woman in leather says concerned. The man looks in front of him they wait he looks back to them "What is it you want me to do? She could be long gone bye now" he says. The young one puts her hands on her hips "I could find her no problem" she says confidently. He scratches his head then looks to the woman in leather she smiles at him while nodding he lets out a sigh "ahh... go find her" he replies. Without hesitation she rushes back to were they last saw Alex leaving the other 2 behind to wait. Walking steadily down a hill Alex keeps her eyes out in front of her the last thing she needs it to fall again. Her thoughts turn to the people she just met they seemed nice not the type to take advantage at all of anyone unlike what Fara told her. The man sticks out in her mind the most he was so good looking Alex had never seen a man like him before just thinking about him made her blush. Jumping back into reality she sees her shoe is untied and stops to fix it. While doing this she thinks she hears a voice. She looks around she doesn't see any one and thinks its her imagination finishing tying she goes back to her pace she hears the voice again this time behind her. She glances back and she sees a figure running to her she waits a minute for it to get closer as it does she realizes its one of the girls from the group she met earlier. Finally making it to Alex she stops leaning over to control her breathing "Hey!" she shouts Alex laughs "Hey what's up?" She greets back. Alex didn't understand why she followed her she was thinking maybe she left something and was returning it to her. she takes Alex by the arm "Come on well bring you to Costa!" she squeaks before she can answer she's pulled back to were she left them all the man and the woman in leather are standing talking to each other "Found her!" the young one calls out to them they turn there's heads "good job" the woman in leather commends with a big smile. Her eyes go to Alex "You can come with us well take you there" she adds she not being able to control herself puts her eyes back on the man she didn't think she would see him again his big eyes also on her "You guys don't have to do that" she says flustered the young one tugs on her arm "Don't be silly were going to the same place lets go!" she yells. They all walk together Alex stayed next to the young one the other 2 walked in front "By the way what's your name?" she asks Alex " I'm Alex " she tells her she grazes her fingers on her chin like she was thinking about her name "well my names yuffie" she points to the woman in leather "that's tifa" and then to the man " and that's cloud" she finishes Alex watches him as he walked. It almost had a swag to it she glanced up to his head she wondered how his hair stood up like that how it didn't seem to move. Going to his back and his arms she could also see part of his chest he was so chiseled Alex could feel her self turning red she needed to stop staring at him but she couldn't "Cloud" she thought to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next hour consisted of Yuffie and Tifa talking back and forth as they walked they questioned Alex were she was from and what her intentions are. However she knew she couldn't tell them instead, she told them she was from davenport and decided to do some traveling. "Costa is the perfect vacation spot its great there!" Yuffie confirmed all Alex could do is smile and nod she cant tell them the real reason it sounded far fetched even to her. Every so often Alex would point her eyes to Cloud he hasn't said a word since meeting up with them again she wanted to talk to him but she was to shy and didn't want to say any thing foolish. She kept quiet listening to Yuffie and Tifa ramble on about materia still not knowing what that was and something called potions. Tackling a small hill, Alex lets them all go in front of her they start down the other side she stops at the peek. Her jaw drops at the bottom of the slop is a gigantic plane hovering a few feet from the ground. Massive in size with 2 fairly large propellers at the end under those at the bottom 4 smaller propellers were rotating this was making it hover. A glass sphere stuck out with what looked like a platform above it. Beyond that it resembled a blimp instead of a balloon it was solid metal but the same shape. "You ok?" she is asked. Alex cocks her head to the voice its Yuffie "Ye...yeah what is that thing?" she questions while studying the plane. Yuffie turns her body to it and back to her "Oh that? That's our ship the Oshera come on!" she yells excited motioning with her hand telling Alex to follow. Cloud and Tifa were already at the Oshera talking to a man with blonde spiky hair like Cloud but it wasn't as elaborate. Catching up they stop next to them Tifa turns to Alex "Oh by the way Cid this is Alex were giving her a lift to Costa Alex this is Cid he's the pilot of Oshera" she says to him. "Howdey there" he greets with a cigarette in his mouth he had an accent almost sounded southern to Alex. He wore goggles on his head with a blue t- shirt, brown gloves, and tan pants. A red jacket was tied around his waist on one of his arms a pink ribbon can be slightly seen. Alex smiled and fixed her bag. "Hi thank you for letting me come along" she responds Cid takes a puff of his cigarette and removes it smoke comes out of his nose. "Don't mention it" he adds. Just then a ramp lands down next to them very loud footsteps echo out. "We leavin' or wa'?" Alex follows the voice a very tall very big black man stood on the ramp he had corn rolls in his hair and wore a puffy white vest using white fishnets as a shirt with green pants. A tattoo on one arm because he was so big could be seen perfect just below it a pink ribbon was tied on his wrist. The other arm though shocked her, a metal hand instead of flesh it makes Alex do a double take. He notices Alex "whose dis'?" he questions he to had an accent it sounded ghetto. Tifa puts her hand on Alex's shoulder "This is Alex she's coming with us to Costa Alex this is Barret" she answers. They all head inside going threw a long hallway Yuffie, Cid, Barret and Tifa all enter into a open doorway Cloud keeps going straight Alex stops and watches him she in a way wanted to go were he was. Walking a lil further he stops at a room near the end of the hallway goes in and shuts the door behind him. "Alex in here!" she hears from the doorway were she stood. She steps in looking around she was in the sphere she saw on the hill to the left of her were cushioned couches and chairs all together in an L shape this lead Alex to believe this was a meeting area. Looking to the right a helm stood in the middle of a control center assuming this was definitely Cids area. Heading to the middle of the room Alex caught sight of a man up against a wall his head was down arms folded he had long black hair some of it covering his face. His outfit consisted of mostly black a bright red coat was draped over him having a high collar with the back longer than the front almost cape like but was shredded at the bottom. A large gun sat in a holster on his hip. One hand he had a gold glove that was claw like his feet had gold pointy boots retracting her statement about gold before and a pink ribbon that hung on the opposite arm than everyone else. Alex glared right at him he stayed in his position for a bit she hears a very deep gritty voice come out "Who are you?" he asks her making her jump a step back. His head slowly lifts his eyes were reddish brown a red band is prominent on his forehead. Alex thought he was creepy she was hesitant to answer him. Yuffie appears next to her "This is Alex were taking her to Costa Alex this is Vincent!" she shouts Alex gets up the courage to speak "He...hello" she stutters. Seemingly disinterested he turns his attention to the sphere peering out it waiting to leave. Cautiously roaming around the room she feels a shake she sees Cid at the wheel pushing buttons and flipping switches it then feels like going up in an elevator. Looking out the sphere the trees were getting smaller blue sky now blankets the view. Alex rushes over to it. They were so high up the greenery looked like grass Alex presses her hands on the glass looking at the horizon. "Wow" she said half whispered "Beautiful isn't it?" she hears from her right side. She turns her head expecting to see a person standing there but no one it stumps her she was sure she heard someone just now "Down here" is said in a British accent from Alex's feet she glances downward. A big red dog like creature with one eye stood with a brown tall Mohawk his tail looked as if it was on fire "Ello" he cheerfully says to her. In her world animals don't speak this makes Alex freak out "AHHH!" she screams this causes everyone to jump it even gets Cloud to come out. He stays at the door watching what's going on Tifa comes to her aid "what's wrong?" she asks her. Alex catching her breath "THAT DOG JUST SPOKE!" she yells. Tifa takes her by the arm "There's nothing to be afraid of this is Nanaki" she notifies. Laughter now fills the room Alex feels somewhat embarrassed she looks to cloud, he staring at her shakes his head then leaves. Alex is flustered she made her self look silly in front of everyone especially Cloud. "Bye the way I am not a dog I am an ancient breed of wolf" Nanaki corrects he sits in front of her. "Sorry" she apologizes "I'm Alex" she adds something catches her eye on Nanaki on one of his legs a tattoo was etched into his fur it's a numeral 13 just below that a pink ribbon. "What's with that any way?" she thinks. Tifa takes her bag from her and sets it on one of the couches "make yourself comfortable" she says to her. Alex really wanted to take a look around the ship she worked on planes and jets of all kinds but the technology of this world was incredible. Leaving the room into the hall way she made sure she went slow taking in all that she sees. She touched everything the walls, pipes, and anything with latches or exposed. Rounding a corner rooms on either side filled the hallway one door had kitchen written on it. 2 others had bathroom on them one door had a sign that said "cargo" on it curious Alex reaches for the knob and tries to turn it "locked" the whispers. Leaving it and going further down the path splits into a fork to the right a sign that said "deck" with an arrow under it read "Warning do not go on deck when in flight". She goes to the path on the far left a sign above said "Engine room authorized personal only" tempted to get a look at the inner workings of the ship she knew she was in no way authorized. Ahead there was no sign being that the other paths were not an option she goes straight every door she tried was locked except for a closet giving up she heads back. Almost to the room everyone else was Alex doesn't pay attention to what's in front of her and feels herself smack into something realizing its a person she looks up its Cloud "Uh sorry" she says quickly he stands staring blankly at her not knowing what else to say she bites her lip trying to keep anything stupid leaving her lipS "Its ok" he finally says. He starts to walk around her she moves over to the side getting out of his way her back on the wall she keeps watching him he's going the same way she did. He slightly turns his head looking at her and goes down the other hallway. Putting her hand on her chest Alex felt her heart skip a beat and also thought how clumsy of her she keeps on towards the group.

landing at Costa, walking from the ship the ramp rolled out in front of her the group followed not to far behind. Hitting ground the sun rays were strong on her face Alex had to shade her eyes to be able to see. It was hot, Alex saw waves of heat flowing up from the stone walk ways everyone had on just swimming attire with sandals some were barefoot. Shops broke off the walkways most having a beach theme to them. A hotel called Villa Del Rio laid just ahead beyond all this Alex could see the ocean. "Well here we are!" Yuffie yelps Alex looks behind her they all stood together cloud was on the end "thank you everyone" she tells them. They all nod there heads Cloud doesn't move but keeps his attention to her. Her shyness forces her to look to her feet. "What will you do now?" Tifa asks her. Alex wasn't sure but being at Costa was a start. "I dunno...but ill figure it out thanks again" she answers one more look to everyone she waves and starts for the hotel. "I hope I see them again" she thinks.

A puff of steam comes from the bathroom as the door opens. In a small towel Alex makes her way to her bed. She acquired a room at the hotel her stuff lay out in piles since coming here a few days ago she had to buy new clothes to replace the ones that were cut up or stained. Picking out a pink tank with blue shorts and brown sandals she puts her hair in a messy bun. Taking the bag Fara gave her it chock full of Gil Alex puts on a pair of new sunglasses and exits. Her skin now tan from being out in the sun so much Alex has covered every inch of Costa, the shops, the beaches, she was even invited inside a few no clock, this didn't upset Alex it just ment it was somewhere else and didn't get discouraged. Besides having a few days to recoup after the week from hell she labeled it, it felt nice she really did feel like she was on vacation. Hungry Alex strolls to an eatery called Grubby's. She ate there once before and thought it was pretty tasty given the name. She walks in and seats herself looking around everyone was laughing and talking having a good time. Un like Davenport everyone didn't stare at her funny she wasn't sure if it was the sunglasses covering her face or if people just didn't notice either way it was great to not have google eyes on her for once. Finished eating, Alex remembers a shop she had seen in her travels around Costa it to was a jewelry store like the one in Davenport. Going in, a display case stretched the length of the store it had all types of jewelry. Some had shells on them and some were metal with designs worked in. One particular piece stuck out to Alex it was a silver bracelet an orange reddish flame intertwined with the silver. "Can I help you?" she's asked. A man in a Hawaiian style shirt and balding stood behind the counter "Uh ya how much is this one?" she questions him pointing to the bracelet. He opens the case and takes it out "Oh this is a nice one yes...this is called dragons breath this will protect you from extreme heat this is 200 Gil" he says while handing it to her. Alex thought maybe he needed protection thinking he was exposed to too much heat. As odd as what she just heard was she still wanted it. She reaches into her bag takes out 200 Gil and hands it to the man. He takes it and puts it in his register "Anything else miss?" he asks not seeing any thing to her liking she declines and walks out. She puts the bracelet on examining it. "It just looks like a piece of metal to me" she thought shrugging it of she walks further down. Children were playing with kites on the beach laughing and carrying on. Older people walked hand in hand with children running past them chasing each other. Alex stops at a clothing store some of there merchandise hung outside. Holding a jacket she hears familiar voices. "This is so aggravating we could of left by now" she listens more " He's doing what he can well be out of here soon", Finally poking her head up she lets out a half smile its Tifa and Yuffie. Excited to see them she walks over "Hey" she says to them they look at her "Alex!" Yuffie yells throwing her arms up. "Hey Alex" Tifa laughs happily "look at you your so tan" she adds gripping her shoulder "Uh yeah...I didn't think you guys were still here" she answers lifting up her glasses. Yuffie rolls her eyes and makes a face "Well we would have been if the ship didn't break down" she gripes folding her arms "Cid's working on it" Tifa assures. Alex then feels a tug on her arm from Yuffie "Come on!" she yells dragging Alex Tifa held up the rear. In the same spot she left them days ago there they were all of them standing outside of the Oshera with the exception of Cid and Cloud. "Hey guys look who found us!" Yuffie shouts still tugging on her arm coming to an abrupt stop. All heads turn to Alex some smiles were formed "Alex pleasure to see you again" Nanaki greets "yo" is heard from Barret and Vincent who was outside with them says nothing he just stares at her. This makes Alex happy she enjoyed all of there company even if it was strange looking to Nanaki and Vincent. "You guys are all here" she says fixing her bag she then here's cid "Damn thing" he curses Nanaki then speaks "You still can't get it to work Cid?" he questions Cid lights up a cigarette and takes a puff "Nah I don't know what's wrong with it" he mumbles. Alex, knowing about planes thinks maybe she could offer her assistance she was sure it wasn't that much different from the ones at home. "What happened?" she directs to Cid puffing away "Eh...it won't start" he continues to mumble. Thinking about this ment to Alex that power wasn't going to the engine itself something rusty or worn out was probably blocking the power from getting to its destination. "Mind if I take a look?" she asks they all look to each other Cid chuckles a lil "Heh you wanna look be my guest" he says while waving her to follow. She had a feeling they all thought this was funny. Cid was the pilot he knew the ship inside and out still this was Alex's profession at home. Down in the engine room Cid led her to the place he thought the problem was coming from. "Knock ya'self out" he tells her puffing more of his cigarette. Alex paced back and forth in front of the engine; big gears interlocked with each other smaller ones interlocking with those. Metal cylinders stuck out from the sides with tubing and pipes going up them. Squatting down she could see thick wires leading to a box she reached in and opened it "I need a light" she informs. Cid takes out the equivalent of a flash light turns it on and hands it to her. Shining it to the box she could see a metal container with the wires connecting to it just like she thought it was rusty and the wires were frayed "Well there's your problem" she says looking up at Cid. He crouches down with her and takes a look "well ill be damned" he lets out. Even though she found the problem she didn't know what it was she was looking at "What is that the rust is blocking me from making it out" she plays off. Cid stands up puffing more on his cigarette "That's the flux it powers up the gears and the gears bring power to the ship" she glances back at it the way he described it, it sounded almost like a battery witch Alex knew a lot about. "So it's a battery do you have replacements?" she asks he nods his head walks to a shelf a few feet from them and gets a new flux he also grabs new wires and tools. He sets them all down beside her Cid not thinking Alex would actually help goes for a wrench. Alex snatches it and starts to work "Wait yer gonna fix this?" he jokes Alex half under the engine yells out "I got this" Cid amazed sits back and watches her work. To his surprise he saw she knew what she was doing. Clipping the flux away from the frayed wires she hands it to Cid he throws it on the floor "Ya know I've been trying to figure out what was wrong for days you come in 'ere and it takes you 5 minutes" he laughs loudly. This made Alex laugh to she was in her element and it felt good she also thought it was the least she could do for giving her a ride. Throwing the frayed wire past her she takes the new wires clips them exposing the metal inside and continues to work Cid puffs his cigarette looking on. Finally the flux can go in she grabs the new one next to the tools and attaches it to the new wires. Now connected she snaps the flux in place and shuts the door, she crawls out patting herself off. "There all done it should work now" Cid rushes to the control room. Alex cleans up leaving everything on a bench next to the shelf the tools and new flux came from. Walking threw the hallway she feels a rumble as the Oshera comes to life. Lights flicker on, air going threw the pipes can be heard above her. Outside, Nanaki and Barret were loading boxes and bags on to a separate ramp that stuck out from the back of the plane. Yuffie and Tifa were talking off to the side. Residue still on her hands Alex puts her bag down and rubs them together. Cid comes out with a half cocked smile with a new cigarette sticking out of it. "Finally got it running Cid?" comes from behind her. She stops she knew that voice she waits. Cloud then comes into view her eyes go to him his head turns to her "Hey" he says not stopping "heh...hey" she stutters back he reaches Cid "hey Cloud" he greets. "Actually it was lil miss that fixed it" he adds pointing to Alex. Cloud then looks right at her "You fixed the Oshera?" he questions shocked. Alex scratches her head her cheeks turn pink "Well...ya it was easy" she answers trying not to let her voice squeak "She found the problem in less time it takes me to light one up she fixed in less time than that" Cid kids. Alex nervously laughs while rubbing her shoulder she tried to not stare at Cloud but was finding it hard to do so it didn't help that she now had a good look at him. His shirt clung to his body she was able to see contours in his chest and abs. His arms granted were not as big as Barret's but they still were a good size. Something looking more like a shoulder pad sat on his left shoulder. Alex didn't notice before it had a silver wolf emblem with a ring hanging from it almost like a door knocker. Everyone has now cluttered into one spot facing her the other ramp is now gone she knew soon they would be leaving. "So you're a tree climbing survival expert who fixes planes?" Yuffie questions the seriousness of the statement made Alex laugh loudly "Yea fixing things are my specialty though" she answers smiling. It was getting late the sun was setting Alex wanted to get an early rest the day after tomorrow she was planning on leaving Costa. "Well see ya have a safe trip" Alex says with a wave she leaves. Walking next to the beach Alex's mind raced from worrying what to do next to being happy that she saw everyone and of course the big one was that she got to see Cloud again. She steps into a spot were the sun gleams in her face she puts her hand up to block it. It made Alex stop her train of thought and walk on the sand she sat a few feet from the waves it was low tide so she wasn't going to get wet. Looking out to the sunset a peace came over her it was the first time since dropping into this world that she felt that way. She then remembers the photo from Fara's wall "It is beautiful Fara" she says to herself. It was starting to get cold off to the hotel Alex went. Entering her room she tosses her bag next to her bed and throws her glasses on a small table that had a lamp on it she takes down her hair to brush it before going to bed. Walking around the room she brushes a few strands a feeling she felt once before comes over her she no longer sees the room flames now filled her eyes she drops to her knees gasping for breath and nothing can be heard in her ears. It was the same situation as with Fara the flames split letting a figure come threw still struggling to breathe she can make out a man with very long white hair. He wore all black eyes green and cat like a long slim sword was clutched in one hand. He was staring right at her like he knew that she could see him. She gains control of her breathing and the image fades she is now back in her room on the floor. This scared Alex she didn't know who that was and why that happened but she hoped it wouldn't again. A knock at her door makes her leap to her feet she cautiously turns the knob and opens it. To her delight standing there was the group including Cloud. "Uh hey guys what's up?" she asks them all "Can we come in?" Tifa questions not sure what's going on she opens the door wider letting them flood in they scattered all around. Cloud leaned up against the door frame arms folded looking down the hall occasionally he'd look in the room for a few seconds. Alex sits on her bed Tifa and Yuffie accompany her "So what's this about?" Alex says to Tifa puzzled. Yuffie lets out a big smile holding in her excitement "Well we all talked it over we want to know if you would like to join us" Tifa proposes. Alex's eyes widen she wasn't expecting this "You do why?" she asks looking to each of them stopping at cloud. He was already looking at her he was trying to hide it keeping his head down his eyes all the way to the corners. "Well you did such a good job with the Oshera today we thought it was a good idea to keep someone around incase that happens again" Tifa answers. Alex pondered for a bit "So like... I would be your personal mechanic" Alex replies Tifa nods. Nanaki sits on the floor next to Barret who was up against a wall. "Well I dunno..." Alex starts to say then Yuffie interrupts her "please Alex?" she pleads like a child. This brought Alex to the last conversation she had with her roommate Sarah in her world. Then it gave Alex a thought it would be much easier to find the clock if she had her own means of transportation and much faster plus she would have people to talk to. She looks to each of them one by one they all smile Vincent just stares at her I guess he didn't care either way. Cloud was still in the door way the same position his eyes now closed. Yuffie sat up her knees on the bed hands together her eyes squinting almost preying. They all patiently wait "well what do ya say?" Barret asks. Alex thinks about it a lil more "Were we going next?" she finally says. Yuffie jumps for joy on the bed Tifa, Barret, Nanaki, and Cid all happily welcome her to the group Vincent still not caring. Cloud stayed at the door in the midst of all the excitement it was quick and small but a smile formed from his lips.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Alex was up bright and early the next day. She wanted to get a good start on the engine. Being in there replacing the flux the day before, she saw all the grease, grime, and rust that accumulated on it. Leaving the bed room she closed the door behind her quietly. She was now sharing a room with Tifa and Yuffie the sun wasn't even up yet she didn't want to wake them. It was very dark threw out the ship only a few lights lit the way. In front of the engine Alex knew since they were in the sky in "auto hover" Cid called it she couldn't do a complete over haul so she did the best she could for right now but when they landed for a few days she was tackling it. Scrubbing and wiping, she was using all the strength she had to get as much done as possible praising herself for keeping her coverall and boots. A few hours of this she needed a break sitting Indian style on the floor she scanned the shelves across from the engine. So many boxes either crooked or overlapping each other stuff just thrown in some had parts too big to fit in them. Getting up to get a better idea of what she was dealing with she then wishes she hadn't. "Oh lord how is any one supposed to get any work done with all this shit just thrown around?" she mumbles angrily, taking down one box at a time she dumped everything on the floor putting things into piles marking each box then filling them. Most of the parts and gadgets Alex thought would have a different name but knew what they were and what they were used for so to not confuse any one she marked them for there purpose. Putting the light items on the 2 top shelves the heavier occupied the 3 next shelves. The heaviest some Alex could hardly lift stayed at the bottom. Tools now had a new home on the bench adjacent to the shelves with nuts, bolds, screws, washers, nails, and any thing else of the same size and family. This took up a lot of time making Alex thirsty and a lil hungry. Out of the engine room the sun was rising making walking to the kitchen a lil easier. It being a revolving door she blows right threw grabs a glass fills it with water and sips while peeking in the fridge. Before going to bed Alex was told that everything is shared when it came to the kitchen if you wanted to eat don't worry about asking unless it's labeled. Thankfully, the food wasn't much different here seeing eggs, cheese, and bread she fries the eggs making her self a sandwich. While eating she cleans up this was a habit instilled into her bye her mom, after every meal she cooked she would eat while washing the dishes it just stuck with her. Not wanting to think about home she finishes her water, cleans, and then back to the engine room. Stepping in she sees Cid looking over what she had done. He stuck his face in to every box checking things over every few minutes "hmmm" would come from his mouth. Alex leaned on one of the engine cylinders "You like the new system?" she asks. He jerks around scratches his head and nods while saying " Ye've been busy keep it up". Feeling good Alex put her focus back on the engine it still had a long way to go it needed a serious tune up, at one point it would have to be taken apart to find any discrepancies that were hidden. Alex stayed in there threw out the day only coming out for a few short breaks occasionally running into everyone, except of course Cloud and Vincent. Along her travels in the room she found a log book that had rows and columns each one had something different one for pressure gauge, another temperature. Going down the list she saw this was never used putting that aside for the moment she rifles threw more papers and books she stumbles upon the ships schematics "Oh sweet!" she yells rolling it out everything is labeled for her with much needed info about every section of the plane giving Alex a better grasp on how she is to work. Walking with it in hand she stops at a blank wall "Hmm" she thinks. She grabs a hammer and nails the schematics to the wall at her height. She steps back when finished "Perfect" she says proudly. "Wow it looks great in here" she hears. Turning around Nanaki stood in the middle of the room his fiery tail wagging. "Oh hey Nanaki what are you up to?" she greets putting the hammer away. "Just wanted to see how you were doing why don't you retire you've been at this all day you can't do every thing at once you have to stretch it out" he says in thick British tone. Alex had so many other things she wanted to accomplish today but Nanaki was right. "Ok sure" she says with a huff. He walks to her side Alex was careful not to get to close she didn't want to catch on fire. "Come with me" he invites. Walking down the hall him just below her Alex could see his scarred right eye "I wonder how he got that? Poor thing..." she thought. Following him into the sphere, witch she later learned is called the bridge, Cid was at the helm puffing away as he steer. Nanaki stopped in front of the controls and plopped down on the floor. The girls sat in the "meeting area" .Yuffie then pulled what looked like a ball out of her pocket it was bright green in color. "What's that?" she asks walking over to them. They look at the ball, to each other, then to her. "This! You don't know what this is!" Yuffie hollers her jaw hanging down. "Uh..." Alex only manages to come out with. Now nervous, she didn't want them to get suspicious. Rubbing her arm she glances around the room Nanaki has his ears perked listening in Cid has one eye brow up indicating he was confused about Alex's statement. "Uh..."she continued to say they waited for a response staring blankly at her. She was starting to feel hot sweat was producing on her face. "What do I say? What do I say!" she screams in her head. She thinks of something, maybe if she says it was a joke it would erase the question. It wasn't a good plan though she tried. "Oh...I was kidding with you of course I know what that is ha ha" she laughs awkwardly. A few more seconds of silence. She had to be more convincing, to sound like she knew what it was she beat around the bush still in a way asking. If Alex did this right they wouldn't be on to her. "So what does this one do?" she asks being as straight faced as possible. Yuffie smiled ear to ear tossing it in the air like a baseball then throws it to Alex not prepared she almost drops it. Holding it, it felt like glass it was about the size of a baseball but it wasn't heavy. The green glowed from the center it reminded Alex of glow sticks after breaking them. "Its poison materia!" she informs putting one hand into a fist. It worked, a sigh of relief comes over Alex not only did she fool them she managed to find out what materia was. "I gotta be careful of what I say around them from now on" she thinks giving the materia back to Yuffie. "Yo Cid we there yet? I hate when it takes so long man" Barret yells to Cid making his way into the room. "Damn it Barret shut the hell up she's goin' as fast as she can quit yer complainin' "he cusses back. "There? Were we going?" Alex cuts in curious she sits in a chair next to her. "Were going to Corel it's were Barret is from" Tifa answers while they continued to argue in the back round. Nanaki stayed put not bothered by all the noise I guess he was used to it. "So what's it like in Corel?" Alex asks trying to ignore Cid and Barret's bickering. Yuffie laid on the couch still tossing the materia around. Tifa leaned back crossing her legs "Corel is a recovering town its coming along but still has a ways we go there every once in a while to help out and now that we have you with us were not restricted" she explained. Interested to hear more Alex leans forward elbows touching her knees hands intertwined. "Recovering?...recovering from what?" she asks about to answer Tifa is distracted looking at Barret and Cid. Holding back her laughing she has to put her hand over her mouth. Seeing this and also realizing the arguing had ceased Alex turns her head to see what was going on. Standing there holding a massive sword was Cloud pointing it at them Vincent stood behind him. "Both of you give it a rest" he ordered. They hush Barret leaves, Cid commences his piloting, Vincent goes to the same wall Alex encountered him not saying a word to her as he walked by. Taking his sword and putting it away behind him he notices Alex also not speaking to her he heads for the glass window but unlike Vincent he kept his eyes on her for a bit she had to make her self face forward he doesn't have to talk to her and she gets all hot a bothered. But from the position of the chair she was in her peripheral vision she could see cloud at the window. She fought her self to not look at him she put one hand on her shoulder gripping it trying to hold her ground. Struggling she gives in only letting her head move slightly. His back to her, his hands at his sides, he looked so cool and calm. Seeing more of his left side he wore an earring it was the same icon on his shoulder pad. "He he cute" she thought. Moving downward he had something new on it was a holster of some sorts for his sword it was leather and bulky with a lot of slots in weird positions making the sword rest sideways. Alex looking at him gets a sense of déjà vu "Why does this look familiar to me?" she ponders looking him over more. Though not knowing it Cloud could see Alex's reflection on the window staring at him. Thinking about it some more she realizes it's the way Cloud is standing that she felt she had seen before. Just the positioning of his body and the way the sword sat on him her eyes then widen as it comes to her. It lead her back to the first episode she had, the image that appeared and on the street at the jewelry shop in Davenport how it looked the same it all made sense it was Cloud that she saw. This gives Alex the chills making her heart beat so hard it felt like it was coming out of her chest the air was thick all of a sudden like she was under water not knowing what to do she acts on impulse running down the hall to her room. Everyone watches as she darts out they all look to one another speechless not knowing what was wrong.

Slamming the door behind her she holds her stomach panting like she had just run a mile. Circling one spot she places one arm on her stomach and the other on her chest "Oh my god...oh my god...oh my god..."she rambled over and over. "Why him? Why cloud? I don't understand WHY!" she shouted a soft knock comes from the door Alex doesn't hear it and keeps on with her rant. Knocking again with no answer Tifa pokes her head in "Are you ok?" she asks concerned this causes Alex to stop and regain her frame of mind. "Uh ya...ya...I'm fine" she answers shaking. Tifa stays at the door looking at her. Alex still had one hand on her chest the other now she had at her side fingers nervously wiggling. "You sure?" Tifa asks once more placing one foot into the room. Alex took a few short breathes trying to calm herself down. She knew that if she didn't relax everyone would come and she would have to explain herself and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Feeling her heart thump a lil less violently she sits on her bed hands on her lap "I'm fine Tifa" she reassures. This didn't fool her, she had a feeling something was going on Alex not wanting to talk about it only made her more curious. Throwing off her boots she crawls into her bed she wanted to be alone for a while. "I'm gonna relax till we hit Corel" she hints to Tifa adjusting herself on the bed. Sensing Alex was telling her in a polite manner 'go away' Tifa makes her exit closing the door after her.

In the bridge, everyone gathered in the 'meeting area' Alex remained in her room. Yuffie, Cid, and Tifa occupied the couches while Cloud, Vincent, and Barret stood facing them Nanaki of coarse was on the floor sitting upright. They were discussing the plan for when they landed at Corel. "Ok so this time I wanna get sum houses built it's gonna be gettin' cold there soon I want as many families sheltered as possible" Barret directs looking over his metal hand. "Barret be realistic would you? We can only do so much in a day!" Yuffie yells making a face. This angers Barret. "Hey there are kids who don't have any were else to go that need a roof ova there heads!" he snaps back. Now Yuffie is getting mad that Barret is yelling at her "Hey don't get mad at me!" she screams even louder." I wouldn't get mad if every other word that came out of ya mouth wasn't nonsense!" he screams back. This continues on, Vincent, Nanaki and Tifa shake there heads in dismay. The meeting has now turned into a screaming match between the two but now instead of talking about Corel they were taking shots at each other. "Your hair is tied to tight its cutting off the blood from getting to your brain!" she insults pointing a finger up at him. Barret leans closer to her she less the half the height of him even so Yuffie didn't budge. "Idiot..."he lets out. This gets on Yuffie's last nerve she opens her mouth to say more Cloud steps in between them putting his hand over her mouth." Knock it off were all helping" he barks, they stop instantly he removes his hand they look at each other "sorry Barret" she apologizes. "Me to" he replies patting her shoulder. "Is Alex helping?" Yuffie asks cloud he nods his head confirming "By the way is she alright?" Nanaki asks. Tifa hovers around the question for a min "She said she was ok but I don't know that was kind of strange" she answers thinking about it more. Cid gets up, he goes over to the controls he had put the plane on 'auto pilot' for the meeting the distance meter read 5 miles to destination. "She probly' over exerted herself she'd been workin' all day" he lets out on his way back lighting a cigarette. "I don't know Cid I think it's more than that she was shaking like something frightened her" Tifa replied. Yuffie jumps up "Maybe she gets air sick like me and Cloud sometimes!" she says sure of herself. her statement made Cloud think, every now and again depending on how fast they're going or how high they were he does become sick, he did see her looking at him at the window maybe she saw out side and that's why she ran off. "It makes sense" putting his opinion in. Tifa didn't think she that was the case her woman's intuition was on high she knew something wasn't right. "I dunno something's up with her" Tifa disagrees. "Leave her be she'll talk when she's ready" Vincent throws in. Tifa decides to not push the issue any more at least for now.

On her bed Alex tried to sleep she was still a lil shook up from what had happened. "Why? I don't get it" she said to herself. She wrapped her brain around that question and couldn't come up with a solution for it. Before coming to this world Alex had never had an episode like the ones she'd had. Was she going crazy? Did the clock do this to her? Or thinking once again something the doc had told her he said one with hidden power and strength was able to wield it. Could it be possible that she has had this ability her whole life and coming in contact with the clock made it awaken? This gave her a headache she rubbed her cheek with her palm, scratching her stomach with her other hand. It then felt like being in an elevator again a rumble vibrates the walls and floor. Yuffie blasts in the room "Were here lets go!" she says excited. Alex rises up; she puts her boots back on and follows Yuffie. Back at the bridge everyone stood at the 'meeting area' it seemed like they were waiting for them. No one talked about or mentioned Alex's mysterious moment. Walking in front down the ramp she stopped and took in the scenery she was stunned at was she saw. She thought upon Tifa's description that she would see a town mostly built that was improving. Instead crumbling buildings stood with mounds of dirt around them. No grass grew, trees were off miles on the outskirts people and children in tattered clothes. Bulldozers and mini cranes scattered about with there tracks imprinted on the ground. "What happened here?" Alex questions loudly Cid stops next to her "you don't wanna know missy" he replies he walks on ward. She walks with him not to far behind.

Despite such devastation around them all the town's people were very friendly. Alex's part in this was installing the electrical in the framing before the dry wall went on she was the only one around qualified to do so. The wood was already assembled all that was needed was to erect them on to the foundations. Barret and Cid along with 10 others worked together installing the framing house after house. When they were finished Alex would come and put in the wiring. A few men stopped what they were doing to watch her. She was so quick and precise at some points she would catch up to Cid and Barret. Looking down most of the time she would lift her head up to stretch her neck. She'd see Tifa helping the women out with cooking for the workers, Nanaki was dragging the dry wall, Yuffie and Vincent were on the roofs laying shingles down, Cloud helped with the windows. When everyone was done with their jobs at a house other workers would come in and finish. At the last house, Alex was wiring a light socket under an opening she was only there for a few minutes cloud shows up on the other side holding a window. Placing it down he leaves and comes back with insulation and weather stripping. Alex now not able to focus decides just this once to ignore him what was she was doing was dangerous. Plus, she didn't want to hear later that the home owners were electrocuted to death because she was to busy staring at him. He though was paying more attention to what she was doing. He thought she was so careful and had such steady hands it seemed to just come natural. Feeling eyes on her Alex glances up and sees him staring at her; he quickly goes back to work. She felt herself get hot and turn pink she wished she could muster up the courage to at least have a conversation with him. The final wire connected she stands up and stretches. "Aaaaahh...all done" she moans cracking her knuckles. She feels a slight twinge in her right shoulder rubbing it she gathers her tools. "You're fast" Cloud tells her. She zips around to find him tapping the window in and it was open. She was so dumbfounded "this is my chance" she thought. "Thanks your not so bad yourself" she replied with a smile. He stops mid tap he didn't think she would respond he then points with the hammer around the house. She does a complete 360, 7 more spaces were left to fill with windows and that was only the first floor. "So much for not saying something stupid" she thinks. "Heh...sorry" she says making an 'oops' face. "Do you want help?" she offers walking over to him. The window now in he steps back to take a gander at it. One eyebrow raised she checked him out head to toe he looked so good standing there it being late in the evening the orange glow from the sun illuminated his blonde hair and white skin. Scratching his left arm his eyes go to her she looking at his chest notices and quickly shifts her gaze to the ground flickering back to him in 3 second intervals. A partial smile creeps up on his face "You've been working hard take the rest of the day off" he says walking by heading to the next opening.

Taking a stroll around hands in her pockets. An Inn in shambles had the vacancy sign hanging on the siding. A general store still up and running had an old man sweeping the steps in a white apron making her remember the old westerns she used to watch when she was little at her grandparent's house. Something hits her right leg. On the ground a ball soccer size sat at her feet. Kids a few yards away yelled asking her to send it back. Alex played soccer for 8 yrs of her life she was a full back ironically her nickname was 'boots'. She taps the ball making it roll a few feet forward then she kicks launching it. They were amazed as it lands right at them. She continues onward. She felt something heavy bounce off her foot it slid a lil before stopping. Alex crouches down to see what it is. Picking it up it was a piece of flat metal, flipping it over the other side had a red diamond shape. Closer inspection she sees there's a word in the middle of it she tried to make it out "Sh...Shi" was all she could read. A feeling came over her she knew it all to well she doesn't see or hear what's around her any more. It become extremely hard to breathe this episode is much more violent than the others she lets go of the metal dropping on all fours. A more complete vibrant town materializes before her, there was grass and trees. Buildings looked brand new people were in clean clothes not a rip in sight. Everyone was smiling and happy. Then explosions blast all around there was screaming and panic. People in blue uniforms shot any one crossing there paths. Bodies lay all over with bullet holes and blood dripping out of them everything was up in flames. "Alex!...Alex!...Can you hear me!" she hears softly. She recognized that voice it was Tifa. The image receded and her hearing comes back, her breathing returns to normal. She sits up on her knees her hands covered in dirt she wipes it off on her coverall. "Alex! Are you ok?" Tifa shouts putting her hand on Alex's shoulder. She saw feet all around her looking up there they all were. "Yeh' scared the crap out of us lil missy" Cid says concerned. She stands up patting her knees, "Ya I'm fine sorry I scared you all I'm gonna take a walk" she answers. She goes around Cloud and Barret walking slowly. "Should we just let her go like that alone?" Yuffie's asks. Tifa's suspicions were now confirmed she knew something was off about Alex but couldn't figure it out she still hadn't but she knew the way Alex was acting when it came to things wasn't normal. "Guys something isn't right with her I know it" Tifa says to them all. "Ah Tifa don't start wit' that again" Cid replies Tifa then gets louder "No I'm serious there's something she's not telling us!" she shouts back. "She's probably just tired Tifa it happens" Barret throws in. Tifa is now frustrated "No think about it! She is very secretive about herself earlier today she was fine then all of a sudden she ran off when I found her she looked like she was having a heart attack she insists she is ok then this? I don't know about you but I'm not buying it! You guys don't think that this is a lil bit unusual?" she carries on. Cloud thought about it, he didn't want to admit it but she was right the way she was acting was peculiar. Seeing her like that didn't sit well with him either. "Call a meeting" he says as he looks behind him watching her slowly fade as she got further away.

Up the ramp onto the ship Alex starts for her room to change it had been a long grueling day it was about to get longer. She passes the bridge "Alex!" she hears from inside peeking in everyone stood in a half circle at the 'meeting area'. "Come sit" Tifa asks her pointing to the couch next to them. Alex knew what this was about the episode she had they all seemed worried about her even Vincent. It was gonna happen at some point she just didn't think it would be this soon, she sits down. "Alex is there any thing you want to tell us?" Tifa asks. Alex didn't want to confide in them they would think she was crazy she needed to try and fix this. "What do you mean?" she questions trying to be a good actress. "Alex you're not fooling any one we can tell something is wrong now out with it" Tifa orders. This was going to be harder than she thought she keeps on with the charade. "Nothing's wrong why do you ask?" she assures. She can see Tifa is now getting aggravated everyone stayed in there place keeping quiet. "Why do I ask?...Alex you were on the ground gasping for air I was calling your name you didn't react it was as if you couldn't see me!" she screams. Tifa was right on the money, but Tifa getting angry at her made her upset she lashes back "I'm fine damn it get off my back!". To prevent this into becoming a cat fight Cloud steps in he put his hand out in front of Tifa shutting her up. He walks over to Alex he crouches to her level looking right at her. "Alex there are rules here one of them is we don't keep secrets from each other if you want to stay you have to tell the truth" he says calmly. Seeing him this close made Alex weak she couldn't help it his big blue eyes wooed her. She really didn't want to say it but what choice did she have? If she doesn't she ends up alone again and she didn't want to have to go back to hoofing it in the woods the very thought made Alex shudder. She knew she had to do it "ok...fine the truth is..." she hesitates fiddling with her zipper. They wait patiently letting her get her bearings, "The truth is...I'm not...from Davenport" she lets out one eye squinted waiting for a reaction. Eyes jerk to one another "If your not from davenport then...were are you from?" Yuffie questions. Alex lets out a sigh she really wasn't sure how to explain this, still it had to be done. "Not this world" she finally says.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Cloud's eyes grow wide he stands up. The room falls silent. Alex folds her arms and sits back she knew this was gonna be the end result after telling them she was waiting for mocking and ridicule. Instead, a flood of questions poured out from them Vincent just watched. "Another world? You mean like another planet?" Yuffie asks plopping on the couch next to her. Alex laughing remains in her position "Ha ha no I'm from an alternate world it's a lot like this one" she answered. Tifa sits on the other side of her. They all one by one taking turns asking her about 'her world' Alex was amazed that they didn't seem at all surprised like they knew whole time. They asked about city names, money, what was used for energy, if vehicles and planes were the same, and of course from Nanaki if there were talking dogs. It then turned into a kind of game 'is this in your world' Yuffie named it. Alex felt so good about telling them she didn't get made fun of or strange looks she was accepted "I should of told them before" she thought. It would have dimmed stress she was feeling and at least she didn't have to hide any more she could now just be herself. An hour of the 'game' and laughter Cloud had a question to "How did you get here?" he asked shifting his feet. Alex's face went from happy to serious she had to be specific in answering. "A clock" she started. Everyone now listening Clouds eyebrows shift downward thinking about what she said. "A clock?" Tifa asked dazed. Alex gets up and walks to the middle of the room her back facing them she stops then pivots her legs turning herself around. "Its called the clock of Norte its not like a regular clock it doesn't tell time it can send a person in and out of different dimensions I was hired to fix it when I was done a light came out then I woke up here" She ended. Barret and Cid each put a hand on a hip then scratched there heads, Tifa and Yuffie sat on the couch with blank faces, Nanaki twitches his ears, Vincent was just there, Cloud put one arm around his stomach using his other he wrapped his hand on his chin in deep thought. "You were hired to fix it?" Tifa asks. Alex takes her left hand and rests it on her shoulder. "Yea his name is Doctor Wallowitz he's an expert on it" she answers. Nanaki walks over to her and stops just at her feet "So I don't understand how is it that he wasn't brought here as well?" he questioned his good eye blinking. Alex remembered what the doc said it wasn't just one thing all of it was imprinted into her mind. "He said that only a certain type of person can use it I guess I was it lucky me" she answered sarcastically. Nanaki sat down off to the side having a view of everyone. Alex rubs her shoulder "Your talking like you don't have the clock in your possession" Tifa states putting her hand along the top of the couch. Alex lifts her right leg she taps the floor with the tip of her boot. "No it didn't come with me the doc said it lets you travel in and out of other worlds so I'm thinking..." she says Cloud cuts in " That there is a clock in every world" lifting his eyes to her. Alex looked at him and smiled "Exactly that's what I was trying to do when you guys found me" she finished. She felt giddy it was the first time since meeting Cloud that she didn't turn red or feel like she was going to faint being around him. "You mean when Cloud almost killed you?" Yuffie jokes snickers bellow out Cloud gives her a death stare making her sink into the couch. Alex thought this was the perfect time to mention the episodes. "There's...something else" she says. Focus returns to her, she stops taping the floor with her foot. "Ever since coming here I've been seeing things" she adds. Interest seeps from them "What do you mean seeing things?" Tifa asks as she stands up. "Well it's kind of hard to explain" she stops to think about how to word it, moving her hand from her shoulder to her upper arm. "I have these images or scenarios that pop into my head it gets hard to breathe I cant control it I don't see or hear anything going on around me when it happens" She lets out "That explains earlier" Tifa says walking over to her. Alex nods in agreement she could see in their faces that they were relieved to finally know. "How come ya didn't say anythin' about this before?" Cid asks walking to the controls getting the ship ready for flight. "I didn't want you all to think I was nuts" she laughs Cloud walks over to her stopping beside Tifa "We would have believed you" he says. Alex started to get flustered it was nice being able to hold a decent conversation with him but he was staring right at her his big eyes made her legs feel like Jell-O. She couldn't hold his gaze she would look to her feet then to him and repeated. Cloud sensed this from her plus, he could see her cheeks were turning red. "Get some rest" he says her he turns his body and walks by the controls. Before leaving the room he cocks his head towards Cid "Let's mosey" he tells him as he makes it to the doorway his eyes meet Alex's one more time before heading down the hall.

After the meeting all Alex wanted to do was change and collapse on her bed, entering her room Yuffie and Tifa weren't there yet she didn't like to change in front of other people even it was women. She kicks off her boots then she unzips her coverall and throws it on the floor next to her bed. Sifting threw her bags she finds soft blue loose pants with ties in the front almost like sweat pants. She puts them on; in her bra, she searches further for a shirt. Yuffie and Tifa then come in seeing she is changing, they quickly shut the door behind them in case any of the men walked by. Tifa sits on her bed her feet on the floor. Alex finds a white t-shirt she gets up to put it on. Yuffie comes closer to her "Wow Tifa looks at this abs," she says poking Alex's stomach. Alex giggled a lil because it tickled but she was very uncomfortable she wrenches her body away "Come on Yuffie stop" she says her head and arms go threw the shirt holes. Yuffie jumps on her bed putting her hands behind her head. "How did you get like that?" Yuffie asks she lets one leg hang over the side "Get like what?" she replies closing her bag. "You have a killer body how did you get it like that?" Yuffie questioned. Now embarrassed Alex rushes to her bed she hides under her covers leaving only her head exposed. "I dunno I've kind of always been like this" she muffles under the blanket. Yuffie takes off her knee high boots and lets them drop she dives under her covers. Alex laughed quietly she was so small you could barley make her out. "Psh...I wish I was privileged in that aspect" Yuffie mumbled as the blanket moved. "Me to" Tifa softy says taking her shoes off she lays down Alex heard ruffling sounds from her side of the room. Alex became upset Yuffie and Tifa were equally thin and pretty. Tifa was big in the chest department she always filled out her tops nicely. Yuffie lacked in that area like Alex but made up for in the rear. It was very plump and round like a couple of apples Alex wasn't as jealous of that as she was of Tifa's breasts she had a backside too. In unison they all say good night to each other. They both immediately fall asleep Yuffie snoring slightly Alex thinks about the episode she had today she didn't get a chance to analyze it being ambushed and all. It really bothered her she saw everything on fire people being shot by other people in blue uniforms it was very disturbing. Alex wondered if that was what happened to Corel and if it was why when she touched that metal did she see it? Did it somehow trigger it? Were they linked? She couldn't tell but seeing that made her feel good about helping out today. Her eyes started to feel heavy closing them she scrunches into a ball under her covers.

Alex lifts her lids slightly blackness surrounds her she fully opens them. Her bed is gone she was laying down still but she didn't know if she was on floor or ground she isn't in her room anymore just darkness as far as she could see. She stands up looking in every direction "Yuffie?...Tifa?" she calls out. No answer, a glow out of the corner of her eye flickers. She turns curious she heads for it; its flickering slows as she gets closer as she did it took shape. A round orb sat on a stand, it reached Alex's hip. The glow coming from it was purplish pink it swirled around the orb like smoke. "I know this...I've seen this before" she says thinking back to the dreams she had for weeks before landing in Davenport. She observed the orb for a min, and then its light grows brighter. For some reason something was telling Alex to touch it. She raises her arm slowly fingers just grazing it. She was hesitant she was waiting for herself to wake up she did all those other times, nothing, darkness, the orb still in front of her. "I might as well go for it" she says grasping the orb. It sends a shockwave threw her body making her squint Alex starts to feel something familiar "Oh no not now" she thinks still holding the orb. Her breathing becomes wheezy she is hurled to a place she didn't know. Chunks of buildings everywhere wires, glass, and shells of cars scattered about. She wasn't holding the orb any more she could walk freely. Around a corner she heard 2 men fighting, looking to see she was surprised it was Cloud he was using his sword against the other man. He to had a sword it was much longer than Clouds but slimmer. One would run for the other, sparks flew as they clashed. Cloud dirty and blooded like he had been doing this for awhile he looked so tired he struggled for air. The other man wouldn't let up he was calm he wasn't having a problem keeping pace. "What's the matter Cloud? Having a little trouble?" he says in cocky tone in a way he almost sounded like Vincent. Cloud, sword out in front glares at him and grits his teethe "SHUT UP!" he screams running full force at him there swords smashing together. The other man uses his whole body weight and thrusts Cloud backwards he flies head first onto a concrete slab that had broken off from a building just above them. Cloud writhes in pain as the man walks over to him he reaches for his sword the man steps on his hand he points the end of his sword to Clouds stomach standing over him. Cloud looks up at him angrily the man then does something unexpected he turns and looks in Alex's direction. She lets out a gasp then covers her mouth it was the same man she saw at the hotel in Costa. He smiled right at her he turns back to Cloud "End of the line" he remarks he raises his arm about to run him threw as it comes back down Alex lets out a scream "CLOUD!". Alex jerks her body up panting and sweating, she's back on the ship in her room. A sigh of relief comes from her. She places one hand on her throat "A dream that's all" she says gladly the door swings open Yuffie pops her head in "Hey get up sleepy head!" she shouts leaving as quick as she came slamming the door behind her. Alex put her hands on her face rubbing her eyes she crawls out of bed throws on a pair of white sneakers then brushes her hair. She didn't need to shower yet it still felt soft from the day before. She puts it in a ponytail rolls on some deodorant and goes to find Yuffie.

Still half-asleep Alex walks lazily to the bridge everyone seemed to always flock there, nearing the next hallway Vincent shoots out going the opposite way. Alex wakes right up even though Vincent is an ally to them she's wary of him he wasn't exactly a conversationalist. Just about to pass each other she takes a chance "Hi" she says to him still moving he glares at her and keeps going. Alex shrugs her shoulders "I tried" she thinks. Entering the bridge Cid was as usual at the controls amazingly no cigerette in site, Tifa and Yuffie were talking with Cid off to the side, Nanaki, Barret, and Cloud stood at the window chatting amongst themselves. Outside it was late morning, she could see that they were in the sky but they weren't going anywhere. "You're finally up!" Yuffie yells excited "Morning Alex" Tifa greets. Alex wipes some crust out of her eyes "Morning guys sorry I slept so late" she apologizes her 2nd day and she felt she was already lagging behind. Barret hears her "Its a'ight ya did a lot ya deserved it" he says to her fiddling with his metal hand. "She gave us all a run for our Gil yesterday" Nanaki says standing "I've never see someone work so fast and efficient before" he adds moving over more towards Barret. Cloud kept facing the window looking out it. "Heh...ya" Alex says walking over filling in the space Nanaki left. Cloud keeping himself forward locks his eyes on Alex she didn't notice she was more preoccupied with the view. Corel was just below them she could see all the houses she helped build. Past that were mountains, dessert lay on the other side. She then saw something she didn't while in Corel a tall gold pillar sat in the center of the sand. It rows to the same height they were hovering at "What's that over there?" she asked them all pointing to it they followed her finger "Oh that? That's the golden saucer it's an amusement park" Nanaki answers as he sits down "An amusement park? Really?" she replies she didn't think this world would have such a place is it the same as the ones she knew? "Dat's were Corel used ta' be" Barret says a sadness crept over him. "Were it used to be?" Alex thought she knew what he was talking about "You mean before the people in blue uniforms destroyed it?" she questions still looking at the saucer. The three of them whip there heads to her speechless stunned even about her statement. Alex notices they have gone quiet and looks to them there faces were almost pale white. "What?" she asks them she thinks now she might of said something wrong. "How in tha' hell did ya know dat'?" Barret asks in disbelief. She didn't want to say any more but remembered what Cloud said about secrets she had to continue. "I saw it" she answers scratching her leg "You saw it?" Nanaki asks his ears wide open. Alex nods slowly "Ya when we were down there" she points to Corel "What I told you all last night the images" she adds she glances up at Cloud he was just as shocked as Barret and Nanaki were maybe more "When you were on the ground" Cloud lets out again she nods. They were at a loss for words they knew she didn't experience this for herself there was no other way she could have known. "Ah hell" comes from Cid a buzzing sound immerses the room. Alex runs over to him "what's wrong?" she yells over the noise "She's over heat'en" he yells back. she rushes as fast as she could to the engine room the buzzing was louder in there she knew exactly why it was over heating water to cool down the engine as it ran wasn't flowing in grabbing a wrench she skims over the schematics pin points the area and gets to work. Alex had to manually get water to the engine for some reason the automatic feature failed. She finds the pipe she needs with a small valve it was so disheveled she had trouble turning it even with the wrench. As she struggled the needle on the temperature gauge climbed if Alex didn't turn valve on in time the ship would crash. seeing grease on some gears she laps it up with her fingers and wipes it were the valve met the pipe and tried again it was working inch bye inch it turned the needle on the gauge stops it then gradually drops down. The buzzing dissipates "phew" she sighs wiping the sweat from her forehead with her arm. "That was a close one" she thought looking back to the temperature it stayed steady at 400 degrees what she knew from planes at home that was about the right temp for when in use. She didn't want them to fly for long though it wasn't safe the automatic feature has a mechanism that flips on when the engine reaches a certain temperature and turns off again when it cools. They had to land and soon she didn't want to risk it she re-enters the bridge. "Cid I managed to keep the ship stabilized but its not permanent we need to set down some were quick its not safe till I fix it" she says wrench still in hand Cid pushes a few buttons "Well go to Cosmo Canyon its not far from 'ere" he informs her she taps the wrench on her hip "Cosmo Canyon? Where's that?" She asks cid is to busy to answer "it's my home its just west of here" Nanaki says walking stopping at the 'meeting area'. The plane jolts as it moves she felt best to go back and keep an eye on things until they grounded. Upon leaving Vincent steps in "What happened?" he asks stopping at the controls "we had a problem but lil missy took care of it" cid says motioning his head towards her. He turns to Alex his black hair covering one of his eyes. She smiled at him he didn't even blink "Hmm" he says he continues to the 'meeting area' and sits. She gives up on him for the moment and walks out.

Alex thought this was as best of time as any to start using the log book she opened it and took readings on everything to keep it on hand she screws a hole on the top left corner, rummaging in some boxes she finds a circular thick piece of metal it looked like an over sized washer. Clipping it with wire cutters she loops it threw the whole using pliers she overlaps the cut ends bending it back into a circle. She gets the hammer out and taps a nail into the wall under were the schematics hung she loops the 'hook' on to it. Stepping back she laughs a lil "I amaze myself sometimes" She says loudly putting the hammer back in its place. The elevator feeling comes back the ship rumbles "we must be here" she says to herself. She goes over the schematics once more she didn't want to forget or miss anything before going. Yuffie comes in "Were here come on!" she shouts running back down the hall. Alex partially smiles "I wish I was that chipper" she says leaving the room. Making it to the entrance everyone was already outside, walking down the ramp she saw them all going up along a rock formation. "This way Alex!" Nanaki hollers he stayed behind for her. Alex trots to him when she caught up he started to walk she stayed behind him. While climbing she looked out all around were red and orange rocks piled on top of each other towering over casting shadows below. "I feel like I'm in the Grand Canyon" she thought still walking. Everyone else was far ahead of them after a while it was like going up a spiral staircase. "Almost there" Nanaki says as he shakes his fur. Alex didn't really know what to think about seeing Nanaki's home she wondered if there were hundreds of talking wolves just all over the place. They came across stairs these were big and stone. "Here we are" Nanaki tells her leaping on them skipping a few steps. Reaching the top, she was astonished to see that humans inhabited here nothing that even remotely resembled Nanaki. It was a town built on to the rock businesses along the bottom, homes at the top, and smoke stacks sat on every roof. For a small place many people lived here, it was bustling. A square fire pit lay in the middle with logs ready. The group was gathered in front of it "bout time" Barret says turning her way everyone else's head followed. Alex ending up next to Tifa, they all were discussing there next moves while here. Nanaki and Vincent broke off on there own, Yuffie and Tifa went to shop, cid, Barret, and Cloud accompany Alex to the hardware store for the ship. They all split off in different directions. "Come on lil missy this way" Cid directs waving her on. Alex stays behind the boys as they led her to the store she passes a weapons depot and a small jewelry shop. Eyes gawk at her from every witch way she hangs her head down trying to ignore it. The boys shift left into 'Rehckos' walking in all along the walls were shelves of parts not just for planes but for everything. While searching for what she needed the boys went to the counter "Rehcko? Ya in?" Cid yells to the back a man with brown hair and brown eyes walks out he dressed a lot like cid. "Well look who it is haven't seen you guys in a while were have you been?" he answers. they talked on Alex remained at the merchandise she scooped up what she was looking for along with a few extras just in case and went over to cid stopping next to him. The man he was speaking to sees her standing there he immediately halts his conversation. "Well...hello there" he says trying to be suave. She gets closer putting the parts on the counter "Oh Rehcko this is Alex she's our new mechanic" Cid tells him flopping his hand on her shoulder. Rechko's face nearly drops he checks her up and down "You are their mechanic?" he says baffled cid pats her shoulder "Yep damn good one to" he compliments this makes the shy in her come out "Well aren't you a pretty little thing" he flirts wiggling his brows. Alex scrunches her face "Gross" she thinks twitching one of her eyes. "Al'right...al'right what do I owe ya?" cid asks taking out his Gil. he pays him, Rechko puts the parts into a box and gives it to cid, cid then gives it to Alex " now you go off to the ship and get started lil missy come back before it gets dark its dangerous afterwards" he informs pushing her outside. It was still early in the day so she had a lot of time to work "Ok I will see you later" she says walking by the fire pit. At the top of the stone stairs, Alex could see Vincent standing half way down them watching the horizon. Gripping the box in fear, she descends landing on the same step. "Hi" she greets he says nothing his eyes jerk to her. She attempts to make at least a half smile, still saying nothing he turns and walks up to the town. Alex is furious at this point she has been so nice and polite to him all for nothing. "Do you have a problem with me or something?" she yells to him. He comes to an abrupt stop but doesn't look to her or respond he only turns his head slightly "I haven't done anything to you and yet you treat me like I don't exist!" she rants he still quiet "I'm not asking for much just when I say hi to you say hi back!" she shouts louder. A few seconds of more silence he continues up the steps his cape the last thing she sees. Aggravated she stomps her feet as she headed for the ship.

Hours later, now in her coverall and boots Alex was covered head to toe in grime the part that needed replacing was deep in the engine tucked under a cluster of wires and pipes. Luckily, she was small enough to fit in the space despite how long she had been at this she only managed to take the old part off. She needed some fresh air, outside the sun was setting "Crap I gotta go!" she shouts shutting the ramp she rushes back to the town. Tripping on the last step she falls scrapping her hand "ouch damn it" she whispers blood trickles on the ground she blots it with her sleeve holding it tight with the cut hand. The fire was now lit everyone sat spread out around it she stands next to Yuffie "Yuck Alex your all dirty!" Yuffie says making a stink face "Leave her alone Yuffie she is just doing her job" Nanaki snaps his ears flatten. Alex laughs as they all bicker at one another she then catches sight of the sunset she leaves them at the fire and walks to the edge of the rock the town stood on. It was amazing being up so high the view was breathe taking it had its own magnificence Costa didn't compare. Threw all the commotion cloud notices Alex isn't with them he scans the area and finds her sitting by herself looking out in the distance he leaves the group and walks over to her. "What are you doing over here?" he asks her Alex glances up and sees its cloud she looks back to the sky "Just watching the sun setting I've never seen ones like these before" She replies shifting her feet. Cloud looks with her "You don't have them in your world?" he asks folding his arms "I do but nothing like this" she answers holding her hand out pointing to the sun. Alex sees the grease on her "Ick Yuffie was right I must look disgusting" she says trying to get it off. Forgetting about the cut, she wipes her cheek leaving blood smudged on it. "Your fine" he says there eyes locking at the same time Alex is starting to feel nervous she was trying so hard not to blush. Cloud sees the blood on her "What happened?" he asks her crouching elbows touching his knees. She didn't know what he ment "huh?" she says puzzled he taps his cheek then points to hers. She touches her face she sees the blood and remembers the cut on her hand "Oh" she says opening it "I fell on the stairs" she tells him it still had not clotted yet. he takes her hand and reaches in to his pack behind him "You do that a lot you need to be more careful" he says pulling out a piece of cloth he begins to wrap it "heh...yeah" she can only say as she watched him. To her Cloud didn't look like the type that would care about anything he mostly kept to himself only speaking when necessary his attitude mimicked Vincent's except he had better manners. He completed the bandage with a knot at the top "There" he lets out Alex looks it over "Thanks" she says smiling at him "No problem" he replies briefly there eyes stayed together "Hey guys you coming back or what?" Yuffie screams to them they both get up and walk to the fire together. "Here Alex!" Yuffie pleads making a space between her and Tifa. She sits down, cloud sits back in his spot with Nanaki he didn't acknowledge her the rest of the night. The next morning Alex was up well before anyone she wanted to get the ship running as soon as possible. Again in the small space she almost completed the fix until, she became thirsty even though the engine was off it was still hot she uses a rag getting as much crud off her hands as she could. She grabs a guide on the engine flips to the automatic mechanism assembly and reads as a precaution. Out of the room into the hall, not paying attention she hears footsteps going by her "Hi" she says her face still in the book "Hey" is heard. The voice makes her cock her head in its direction there stood Vincent and he was actually looking right at her Alex was so shocked she couldn't believe he spoke to her. A Wide smile spreads threw her face "hi" she says again to him he nods his head at her turns and keeps walking. Her smile grew bigger "maybe he isn't such a jerk after all" she thought entering the kitchen.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A lil elbow grease the engine after a few days was looking mint with the automatic mechanism fixed the ship has not docked since Cosmo Canyon. In the bridge, she would see towns fly by she hoped when she would saw one that they would land there so she could look for the clock and complete her mission on the engine. During this time, she has gotten to know everyone very well with the exception of Vincent and cloud. Alex was to afraid even with the break threw to ask Vincent about himself and finally managing to speak to Cloud without being bashful was a small triumph it though had its limits. The engine room was deemed Alex's domain in such a short time she really turned the place around everything now had its own place it was clean neat and organized not like the atrocity it was before. She was taking readings when Cid yells to her from down the hall "Hey Alex!" still writing in the book "Yeah?" she says marking vapor pressure "Can you come ta' the bridge for a min?" she hears faintly. She really wanted to get logs in before moving to something else "Kind of busy at the moment!" she yells back she keeps writing. "Get yer butt in here!" Cid orders rolling her eyes she puts the book down open. Entering the bridge only Cid and Cloud occupied the room Cid was at the wheel Cloud stood in front of the controls leaning forward on them. "What's up?" she asks they both look to her "The auto pilots messed up" Cid says bent over looking at its screen. cloud puts his head back down looking in the same spot as cid "let me see" she tells him cid moves out of the way as Alex walked to the controls. It read 'auto pilot off' "Turn it on" she asks Cid presses a button under the screen it flashes saying 'auto pilot on' then it immediately shuts off. "Hmmm" she lets out scratching her chin "What ya think it is?" Cid asks her Alex didn't answer for a min "Let me look at the wires" she says squatting down to the metal plate just under the controls. Using a screwdriver she left in her pocket she takes the plate off. Bundles of different color wires bunched up against each other it filled up most of the space. laying on her back she sticks her head in. every one she inspected looked fine then she sees a set of wires with the encasing warn off this must of been the problem " aha! Found it these are exposed and there crossing causing them to misfire this is why its not working." she informs still on her back "well what now?" Cid asks grabbing for a cigerette "It's an easy fix I just need to cover the wires up again all I need is rubber" she muffles "Rubber? We ain't got rubber" Cid chuckles his cigerette now lit hanging from his lips. "Well that makes it tough then" she says holding the wires by the non exposed part "fantastic" cid says sarcastic. Then she thought of something "Wait do you guys have any old shoes you don't care about?" she questions Cid and Cloud make confused faces at each other. "Ya I do why?" Cid asks smoke seeping from his mouth "Just go get them" Alex orders. Cid leaves then comes back with black beat up shoes she picks one up and checks it over. "This will do" she says confidently she gets up goes to her room grabs one of the griffins goes back and sits on the floor next to the controls. holding the shoe she cuts a few pieces of the sole away from it shoving the remainder of the shoe off to the side with the knife she lays on her back again "Cid can I use your lighter for a sec?" she asks holding her hand out head in the wires. He gives it to her. One of the pieces in had she melts the tip of the rubber with the lighter she attaches it to one wire melting the rest as she wrapped it around she did the same with the sec wire. Crawling out she screws the plate back in "there try it now" she says to cid standing up he goes over to the controls once more and presses the button. It flashes 'auto pilot on' and remained that way. Cid let out a high-pitched laugh "Well now yer handy ta' have around" he says still laughing. cloud the whole time said nothing he just watched her he was so amazed at how resourceful she was how quick she thought on her feet. Alex heads to the door way knife in hand "well if that's all I'm going back" she says cid fiddles with the auto pilot she looks at cloud he only moving his eyes does the same. She gives him a tiny smile and leaves.

some time later, Alex was greasing up the gears when Tifa comes in "hey come to the bridge were having a meeting" she tells her she stood at the door Alex gets up and wipes her hands "they never involve me in there meetings" she thought Tifa and her walked together back to the bridge. Everyone was on the couches and chairs Nanaki was at the end on the floor. Playing with her hair she stands facing them "what's going on?" she asks them still playing with her hair. "Were going to Junon" Cid answers scratching his neck "Junon? What's there?" she asks putting both hands on her hips. "A reactor" cloud says leaning his body forward "a reactor? For what?" she questions overlapping one of her legs "It extracts mako and materia from the life stream" Tifa answers. Now Alex is even more confused "Wait hold on mako life stream what are those?" she asks one of her eyebrows up. Cloud props one hand on his lap "The life steam is the planets life force mako is energy extracted from the life stream materia is a concentrated form of mako it takes thousands of years to make the reactors speed up the process or they did there not in operation anymore" he explains "Wait you said reactors there's more than one?" She asks him folding her arms he nods "there scattered all over" he adds even though it was explained to her she still had no idea, life stream? Mako? It was making her head hurt. "So if there not on...then...why r we going there?" she asks "To make sure it stays off this is what we do Alex we travel all over making sure that the reactors aren't being used we also have contacts that give us information if anything is going down we are the ones who stop it energy from the planet can be used for other purposes taking from the life stream is taking from the planets life if the planet dies so does everything else." Tifa says petting Nanaki "So what does this have to do with me?" she asks all her weight now on one side. Cloud gets up and walks up to her he stops a few feet from her body "If your gonna be part of this group you need to learn about what goes on around here" he says Alex can feel herself getting flustered she couldn't talk any more to him she nods instead. he turns to cid "lets go" he orders cid jumps up and runs to the helm she feels the ship shift direction cloud turns back to her she still wasn't able to speak any more to him she let her head hang looking off to the side going back to cloud periodically. He then walks to the window her heart pounding she still had things to do before they landed in Junon she goes to the engine room.

Finishing her days work Alex needed a shower. She gathered towels, grooming products, and clean clothes then went to the girl's bathroom. Turning the water on she unzips her coverall and lets it fall off of her. Taking out her ponytail, she can feel the oils threw out her hair "wow I put this off way to long" she says to herself taking off her bra and underwear. She steps in the water goes black on the floor of the shower as it drips off of her skin. "Oh my god this feels so good" she moans rubbing her hands on her soaked body. Now clean, she pulls the curtain back she hears the shower in the next bathroom turn on. Unfazed she dries off. Going to the mirror it didn't get as foggy as her bathroom at home, she could see her self pretty clear in it. She throws on clothes that she still had from Fara the black v-neck and khaki like pants with new shoes black, they resembled high tops. Letting her hair hang she wraps everything up in the towels and leaves for her room. Sorting threw her clean and dirty clothes Tifa and Yuffie step into the room talking as they do. "were did cloud get to he has my materia he was supposed to give it back to me" Yuffie says upset "I think he said he was going to take a shower he'll be out soon" Tifa answers they both standing in front of the beds. Alex drops her things on the floor her mouth wide open "that was him!" she screams in her head the very thought of him being next door naked and wet makes the blood rush to her face. They both glance at her "you ok?" Tifa asks her snapping out of it Alex quickly throws everything into her bags "uh...ya...I'm good" she says not looking at them. They both say nothing to her continuing there conversation.

Out into the hall she turns right for the bridge. Entering she was the only one in the room. Going to the window all that can be seen is sky and ocean if the plane flipped over you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Eyeing the couches she plops on one and stretches out lying completely flat "Aaahhh" she lets out she puts one arm over her eyes the other on her stomach and relaxes. 5 minutes pass then feels like someone is watching her lifting her arm Vincent stood a few feet from her staring his arms crossed. Startled she props herself up "Oh hi Vincent" she greets it takes him a few seconds but he eventually speaks. "Hey" he says to her she sits up "What are you up to?" she asks Vincent looks out the window not saying a word. Alex didn't get mad she was happy he at least was talking back to her even if it was just a hello. "nothing...just waiting" he answers still facing the window Alex was surprised he answered her she kept going "so...how long how have you known everybody?" she questions not sure if he will continue "a while" he says looking back to her she smiles at him and sees his gold arm. She gets up and walks over to him. "Cool uh...glove" she compliments unsure of his reaction. He flicks his eyes at his arm then back to her "It's called a gauntlet" he says to her letting his arms hang to his sides. "Oh sorry" she apologizes "What is used it for?" she asks. Looking at it he lifts up the arm with the gauntlet and wiggles his fingers "It matched my boots" he answers. Alex makes a confused face at him she then realizes he just made a joke "Oh ok" she laughs his expression doesn't change. Cid and cloud then come in to the room "almost at Junon" cid informs taking the plane off autopilot. cloud is now wearing his holster with sword intact Vincent loads his gun next to her "wait am I missing something are we going into battle?" she asks cloud looks to her "you never know" he says to her now worried she rushes to her room and straps her griffins on. The elevator feeling comes over here as the ship comes to a stop. She meets them all in the hallway as they leave.

Instead of stepping onto dirt, she walks on to a helipad. It was a city that also looked built onto a rock its tall buildings towered over. A wide road separated the city from a wall on the other side was the ocean. Many people were walking in and out of stores and homes it was very heavily populated. "Alex over here!" Yuffie yells to her the group was gathered on the side of the road she runs over landing next to Barret "first things first the reactor lets go" cloud orders they all travel together along the road to a tunnel with a big door on the wall next to it was a key pad. Cloud stands in front of it all she can here is the beeping of buttons being pushed. A long beep follows when he's finished the door fly's open they all enter onto a platform. Cloud pushes a button with an arrow pointing down on it another button on top of that had an arrow that pointed up. They move downward stopping at an open doorway they all flow in to a large room and circled around something in the middle Alex walked over to it. a large wide glass and metal container with wires going up and down sat in front of her she had never encountered anything of this magnitude none of it looked familiar to her. "This is it lil missy" cid says to her she gets closer to it "this is the reactor?" she says not knowing what to think about it they all nod. "Wow" she says in amazement Tifa, Yuffie, and Nanaki broke off going into a room to the left of them. The boys stayed looking over the area. Upon inspection, something caught Alex's eye. A small sign stuck on the bottom of the reactor it read 'materia extraction' she ran her fingers around the area. the feeling comes back she cant hear anything her breathing gets horse hand still on the reactor she grabs her chest and drops to her knees the boys hear this they see her on the ground and rush to her side. "Alex are you alright?" Cloud yells to her she can't hear him. Threw her eyes she is facing the reactor a man in a lab coat in the same spot as she his back to her she can't see what he is doing but he suddenly looks behind him and runs to a room on the right side of the reactor. Slowly her sight comes back she can breathe normal. She sees the boys all around her "what happened?" cloud asks her she takes a few breathes "there was someone here not to long ago they were doing something at the reactor I don't know what but they ran in there" she says pointing to the room. They all run off Nanaki, Tifa, and Yuffie renter the reactor they see Alex on the floor. "Alex!" Yuffie yells they all go to her "you ok what's going on?" Tifa asks brushing Alex's hair away from her face "I had an episode I saw someone down here the boys went to check it out" she answers standing up "someone was here?" Tifa says shocked just then the boys come back "well we looked there ain't anyone 'ere" cid says one hand up on a wall leaning on it "really?" Alex says "Yep" he replies "Is it possible you saw an old memory?" Nanaki questions walking around the reactor. She didn't know why she saw that she was sure it was recent. "I'm gonna walk around" she tells them going to the room she saw the man in the lab coat ran into. Walking in it was an old office a desk sat against a wall to the left of her with papers scattered about in front of her piping interlocking other piping scaled another wall leading up past her view. She could hear everyone talking in the other room. Reading the papers on the desk she picks up a document with a symbol at the top it was a red diamond it was the same one she saw on the metal plate only she could now make out that word "Shinra?" she whispers. She hears a noise coming from the pipes looking closer she can see the bottoms of feet "Guys!" she yells to the group they rush in " What is it?" Tifa asks Alex points to the pipes "there's someone up there!" she says they look along with her cloud can see what she's looking at "Vincent" he says looking to him Vincent nods and jumps upward cloud follows. In one jump they make it to the man and drag him down "wow how did they do that?" she thinks as she watches. Back on the ground, a man with brown hair and a lab coat stood shaking. Cloud draws his sword holding out it to him "Who are you?" he asks him "Please...please don't kill me" the man says cowering. Cloud moves the sword closer to his face "Who are you and what are you doing down here?" he yells the man is afraid to speak Cloud gets angry. "I'm not going to ask again" he says moving the sword to his throat "My name is Byron I was told to come here and get materia" he finally answers. Cloud keeps his sword on him "who told you to?" he sternly asked. The man stuttered as he spoke "Car...Carnak...his name is Carnak he ordered me to come here and collect materia" he said shaking Alex couldn't help but feel bad for the poor guy. "Why?" Cloud continued the man was so scared his lips were twitching "I don't know" he answers. Cloud then grabs him by his collar the tip of his sword now pressed on his skin "Its the truth I swear I don't know when I acquired the materia then I was to be told what to do next!" he cried out. Cloud stared at him for a moment "Today isn't your lucky day" he said softly to him. Alex had a feeling what was coming next he was going to kill him. not wanting this to happen she had a thought if she could find out he was telling the truth maybe he would let him go "cloud wait!" she shouts running over to him stopping at his side "Alex get back" he orders focused on the man " cloud what if he's telling the truth?" she asks him. he turns to her "what are you suggesting?" he questions Alex looked to the man she got closer "don't worry this isn't gonna hurt" she informs him she places one hand on his forehead immediately her breathing goes out of control her ears catch no sound. This episode wasn't a violent one she was able to stay on her feet. She can see she is in a room, the man Byron, is at a computer another man steps in, she can't see him well but she can hear there conversation. "Byron I want you to go to Junon and get materia from the reactor" the man tells him. Bryon stops his work he walks over to him "What for?" he asks the man then gets angry "Don't ask questions just do it you will be given further instructions when you come back with the materia now go!" he yells. The image disappears; Alex can now breathe and hear she takes her hand away. "What did you see?" Nanaki asks Tifa goes to her touching her shoulders "what was it?" she questions Alex looks back to cloud "has telling the truth" she says to him cloud who kept his blade on him move his eyes from her to him and back again. He didn't want to let him go but the way Alex was looking at him made him give in he lowers his sword. "Well...maybe today is your lucky day get out of here" he says keeping his sword off to the side. This made Alex feel good she held back her excitement. Byron stops shaking "your not going to kill me?" he asks cloud looks at Alex again "go before I change my mind" he says glaring at him. Byron bolts out his footsteps echoed. Cloud put his sword in the holster everyone was surprised that he let him leave "wow that's a first" Yuffie lets out Cloud walks to the door way "lets change the code and go" he says.

Back at the tunnel the group walked ahead, Alex stayed behind with cloud. He was at the key pad pressing a series of buttons another long beep follows when he finishes. "Aren't you gonna write that down so you don't forget?" she questions him. He looks to her one eyebrow raised "Don't need to" he says while walking. She rushes to catch up "How come?" she asks. Him he keeps looking forward "Cuz it's my birthday May 26 Th" he says Alex stops for a second she was sure she heard him right. Now with everyone Alex had to ask "Wait you guys use month names and dates?" they all stare at her "Of course we do how else can keep track?" Tifa says laughing a lil "I could have used this information earlier" she thinks. "So what month is it and what date?" she asks "April 2nd!" Yuffie shouts from the front. Alex was happy to hear this this world really wasn't that much different from hers. She then does the math "So your birthday isn't that far off Cloud" she says to him he stops at the ship they all gather around him. "Yup he's gonna be the big 2...3!" Yuffie jokes with a goofy smile on her face. Cloud glares at her she stops. "He's a year older than me?" she thinks. Alex thought he was a lot older than that at least he acted that way. Cloud starts to cross the road over to the city everyone walks with him "So were are we going?" Alex questions looking at the city "to Morgana's" Barret answers "Morgana? whose that" she asks she had a harder time keeping up they all walked so fast Alex basically had to run in order to stay with them. "She's one of our contacts she's great you'll like her" Yuffie says happily. Up a few streets and around a corner they enter a shop 'sweet treats' it said over the door. Inside it smelled phenomenal cakes and pastries were piled in a large display case steam was seeping out of an oven in the back. Cid leans over the counter "Morgana ya in?" he yells "I know that voice!" is heard a woman comes out she was older with light brown hair up in a bun she wore a blue dress and a white apron. She holds her hands out going over to the men "my boys!" she goes to cid puts her hands on his face and kisses his cheek. She bends down to Nanaki "Look at you all" she starts to say petting him on his head. Moving to Barret, he was too tall for her to reach he leans over she kisses him on his forehead. Then goes to Cloud she puts her hands on his face and gripes his cheeks "So handsome" she says to him he rolls his eyes a speck of a smile creeps up. she then heads for Vincent he looked like he didn't want her to touch him let alone kiss him "come on Vincent" holding her hands out to him still glaring at her he bends down to her she puts her hands on his shoulders and kisses his cheek. "My Girls!" she shouts seeing Yuffie and Tifa she hugs them both kissing there faces "look at you 2 you get prettier every time I see you" she says holding there chins. They both giggle. Morgana then sees Alex "Oh whose this?" she asks them all walking to her. A lil apprehensive Alex holds her wrist with her other hand she scrunches her shoulders putting her head down but keeping her eyes on Morgana. "That's Alex she's new" Yuffie tells her eyeing a cake in the case. "She's our mechanic" cid adds in also eyeing the case. "Oh really? well good for you its about time women got into the men's world'" she compliments getting closer to her she takes one of Alex's arms and holds it up "now let me get a good look at you" she says examining her with the other arm she places it under Alex's chin making her look at Morgana. She smiles at Alex running one finger over her bangs "you're beautiful" she says letting her arm go Alex now red she looks away. Morgana turns walking to the middle of everyone. "so what brings you all here?" she asks "have you heard the name Carnak anywhere?" cloud lets out folding his arms she thinks about the question "hmmm no doesn't ring a bell if I do ill let you guys know...now you all look hungry lets eat!" she shouts running behind the counter grabbing from the case. Alex wasn't hungry she wanted to look around the city for the clock she walks for the door she opens it half way "Hey I'm gonna take a walk" they all look to her "You sure honey there's plenty here?" Morgana asks holding up a plate of goodies as tempting as it was Alex really want to do a search she shakes her head " thanks I'm sure ill be back" she says she leaves letting the door close behind her. after a while of eating and catching up the subject turns "that Alex seems nice" Morgana states "yeah she's really cool" Yuffie's says mouth full "were you did meet her?" she asks them "Yuffie cloud and I met her outside of Costa we gave her a ride she's been with us ever since" Tifa answers sipping water. Morgana places more pastries in front of them "She's a cutie" she says directing it to cloud. Only moving his eyes he stares at her he doesn't answer he looks back down. Morgana smiles at him "you all better keep an eye on that one" she says" a pretty girl like that shouldn't be left alone" she finishes walking to the oven.

street after street shop after shop it was getting dark Alex now wasn't sure were she was she stopped to rest for a moment. "I guess the clock isn't here not only that I'm lost" she says to herself she walks back the way she came hoping to retrace her steps. Two men come out of a bar they walk opposite of her. She looks at them they grin at her she passes by. She goes threw her thoughts about how to get back to Morgana's. She hears footsteps behind her she ignores it and keeps going she feels a hand grab her arm stopping her. It was one of the men from the bar the other man went to her other side. "Let me go!" she screams trying to break her arm free. The other man runs his fingers threw Alex's hair "I don't think so sweetie you're coming with us" he says to her. Both now laughing they start to drag her other way down the street "No let go!" she lets out still struggling. She remembers she took her griffins with her. She tries to reach for one then she feels the man behind her let go. Looking to him, he's on the ground groaning in pain then the other man lets go of her arm turning to that direction Cloud had him by the throat against the wall next to them. "Touch her again I'll break your neck" he threatens him. Alex was surprised to see him when she didn't come back he must of gone out looking for her. "Ss...Sorry" the man apologies cloud removes his hand "Go!" he yells to both the men they take off. He walks over to her Alex was heavily breathing and shaking if cloud hadn't of shown up who knows what would of happened "you ok?" he asks looking her over still shaken up she nods frantically rubbing her shoulder. "come on were leaving" he says to her walking in front he stops and looks back at her "Alex come on" he tells her she runs up to him walking along side he made sure she stayed close.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Almost to the ship, not a word was spoken between them. Alex was still shaken from the experience Cloud did not want to upset her more by talking about it so he stayed quiet. She didn't even look at Cloud as much as she does when he was around she kept her eyes out just in front of her. The planes propellers can now be heard Alex was glad to be going she did not want to stay here any longer. Cloud gazed at her from time to time he wondered what was going threw her mind what she was saying in her head and not saying to him. He hoped that when they got back she would be fine. The ship now in sight Yuffie, Tifa and Barret stood outside talking. Yuffie sees Alex and cloud "there they are!" she shouts pointing to them. At the ramp Tifa notices Alex doesn't look right "What's wrong you ok Alex?" she says to her placing her hand just at the end of her shoulder. Alex didn't want to be touched "Ya" she says rushing up the ramp Tifa looks at Cloud "What happened?" she asks concerned. He did not want to speak about it "Don't worry lets go" he says going up the ramp into the bridge. The three of them follow him the ramp closing behind. "Don't tell me not to worry because you know I will any ways what happened!" she shouts at him cloud stands at the window cid is at the controls putting the ship in flight. Barret and Yuffie stand behind her "Its nothing" he says looking out the window Tifa walks closer to him "how can you say that?" she yells louder Cid watching lights a cigerette holding the helm. Cloud doesn't answer Tifa moves standing a few feet behind him "She is obviously upset about something! What about the rule of not keeping secrets!" she says angrily. Cloud is now mad that Tifa is being so persistent he zips around glaring he screams over her "You wanna know? 2 guys jumped her if I hadn't found her!..." he cuts him self off closing his eyes not wanting to continue he didn't want to think of what could of went down. He turns back to the window, Tifa puts one hand over her mouth in her mind she was thinking Cloud had done something to make her act that way she never thought it could of been anything like that "Is she ok?" she asks him he lets out a sigh "I don't know" he answers.

Alex just wanted her bed entering her room she doesn't shut the door leaving it open slightly. Shoes and griffins still on she crawls under her covers. Nothing like that had ever happened to her before she didn't get the kind of attention she gets here at home she was always invisible. Really all she did was coast by and she was used to that but now here it's a whole new ball game. Here when it came to that it was backwards suddenly she now is desired she doesn't know how to handle it. Yuffie and Tifa step in they both sit on Yuffie's bed facing her "Cloud told us what happened you alright?" Tifa asks Alex sits up "Ya I'm fine" she says fixing her blanket. "You wanna talk about it?" Yuffie asks "Not really" she says looking at the foot of her bed. Yuffie falls on her back her legs hanging over the side. "He said he fought 2 men off of u?" Tifa states Alex rolls her eyes a lil "So much for not talking about it Tifa" she says in her head. But then she thinks about it "Ha yeah it was pretty cool I thought they were gonna wet themselves" she chuckles laughing along with her they both stand up and go to the door. "Well no more going off on your own bring at least one of us with you ok?" Tifa asks Alex nods her head they leave. She sinks back into her bed she remembers Byron at the reactor how he almost killed him and when she saw him shoving that man on the wall. She didn't think he was that aggressive he always seemed so calm still she was thankful that he came to her aid when it was needed. "Heh it was cool" she says to herself thinking about him more and more made her feel better. She started to not care about the whole incident its self she focused more on how he acted when he showed up they way he had hold of that man they way his eyes looked just his presence she reverted to story books and movies when she was a kid he was like the white knight riding in to save the damsel in distress. She giggled at the thought of it a big smile rows from cheek to cheek she gets into a comfy spot and closes her eyes the smile lingered for sometime.

Half under the front of the engine Alex shines a light on every wire, pipe, and anything else that fell in between. The shower didn't keep her clean for long her hair wasn't bad but her hands, face, and neck were almost completely black. While she did this she heard footsteps come in "Hey Alex?" its Cid "ya?" she says she hears him going threw boxes "Were are the pliers?" he asks. She shakes her head "All tools are on the bench Cid" she tells him he grabs them and walks out .Alex shifts her body, her back was starting to hurt. she hears the boxes being rummaged threw again thinking its Cid not understanding what 'tools are on the bench' ment she crawls out. "Cid I told you the pliers are on the bench" she says walking over to her surprise it was Cloud. "Oh hey sorry" she apologizes holding a small box he looks to her "Its ok" he says sticking his hand in he pulls out something she thought was odd for him to want. "Spark plugs? You tuning up a car?" she asks him he puts the box back "Motorcycle" he answers looking at them. "Oh?" she says her stomach felt like it had butterflies. Alex always liked motorcycles and learning Cloud has one made her knees weak. "Can I see it?" she asks politely. He glances at her "Come on" he invites motioning with is head to follow. He leads her to the cargo room. Inside he flips a switch the lights flicker once before turning on. All around her were bags and boxes all strapped down she assumed to keep them from moving in flight. He walks ahead and stops on the other side of a rack she meets him. He stands at the end of something large with a tarp over it. He reaches down and pulls the tarp off. Alex's eyes widen her mouth drops "Whoa" she lets out. It was twice the size of any bike she has ever seen. It was black with gold trim huge double exhaust pipes stuck out the back. The tires were big and bulky making the bike stand high off the ground its body was sleek its style was like a street bike. He puts the tarp off to the side "This is yours?" she asks almost drooling he nods walking to the front of it holding the spark plugs. She gets closer to it her eyes run along the body she squats down to get a better look at the engine "This thing is sick " she says smiling. He leans one arm on a rack confused "Sick?" he says she looks over at him "Oh its another way of saying awesome" she says standing up still looking at it. "Were did u get this?" she asks checking out the back. He walks over stopping at the front tire "It was a trade" He answers watching her. She looks up and goes over to the seat "That was a sweet deal" she states touching it. He says nothing he keeps watching her. A ringing sound then fills the room Alex jerks her head around. Cloud reaches into his pack and pulls out a phone Alex seeing this is shocked "They have cell phones here to?" she thinks he answers it "Ya?" he says into it the voice on the other side was a woman's it sounded like Tifa. Alex went back to the bike him talking in the background. Now on the side of it she touched the handle bars witch sat low. She sees divots that matched on either side of the body she ran her fingers over it "Hmm" she thought. He shuts his phone and goes back to the bike "What's up?" she asks him "Were going back to Corel tomorrow" he informs. Her eyebrows move down "Corel? again?" she says confused she guessed they were going to help out again. "Just the outskirts were meeting another one of our contacts" he says Alex wondered if they were anything like Morgana. She looks back to the divots in the bike "What's this?" she asks him he walks over to her and sees what she's looking at. He goes to the other side and sticks his arm under part of the handle bar "I'd step back" he warns her she backs up. Both sides of the body fly open Alex's eyes grow wider they were compartments in them were swords including the one she always sees Cloud with "Wow" she loudly says slowly going over to them. "You have more than one?" she asks even though it was stating the obvious. "Yeah" he says folding his arms looking at them. One sword the handle was part of the blade it was hollow inside in certain angles it had a gold shimmer. Another looked like it had teethe is was also hollowed out next to that was another blade exactly like it. The last 2 swords were duplicates too they were smaller, not small enough to be a knife but not big enough to really be called a sword. The one he carries around sat on the end. "You use all of these?" she asks touching one of the toothed ones handles. "Yeah" he says staring at her "How do you use them all?" she asks remembering his holster only had so many places to put them. He gets the one Alex is familiar with and takes it out. Holding it the blade then separates in his hand "There fusion swords they lock together and make one blade" he says. This peeks Alex's interest "Show me" she says looking at him with a half smile. Looking to her he stands in the same spot for a minute then walks over and grabs the gold blade first. The hollow side slips on to the end making a new edge. The toothed blades snapped on to both sides covering the slit in the first sword. The smaller swords also sat on the sides but since they were a lot smaller they didn't make a difference on the appearance they were more of a decoration. He holds the blade out the side facing her making her jump. It was enormous, if this was held out tip pointing down Yuffie could hide behind it. In 5 seconds they all went from 6 separate swords into one big one she could see her reflection in it. She holds her hand out touching it with just the tip of her fingers. "This is badass" she compliments he doesn't say anything "This must weight a ton how are you holding this with one hand?" she questions still touching the blade. He takes it away and disassembles it put them all back in there places in the compartments. "Practice" he jokes putting in the smaller ones. Then the sword he started with goes in. He reaches under the same handle as before the compartments close. She chuckles and folds her arms she looks under the bike. A good sized wet mark lay on the floor she bends down and touches the spot she puts her fingers to her nose and smells it "Hmm" she lets out. He sees this and goes to her "What?" he asks "Looks like you've got a leak it doesn't have a smell so its not engine fluid it could be the breaks or the transmission" she tells him. He kneels down with her and examines the spot "Great" he sighs standing back up he goes to the tarp picks it up and starts to put it back on the bike. Staring at the wet spot she felt bad he seemed disappointed when he saw it "Hey...I could fix it for you" she offers. He props his head up at her "Really?" he says continuing covering it. When done he steps over to her and stops at her side. Alex rubs her lower right arm "Yea its what I do" she says to him. He turns to the bike then back to her awkward silence now sets in she waited for him to answer "When we land in Corel you can do it then" he says Alex glances at him and stares right into his eyes she was very excited that he was letting work on it but the feeling didn't last long he was almost smiling at her she felt her body get hot her face started to flush "Right...well uh...just let me know and put it outside I gotta get back" she nervously says scratching her neck he nods she heads for the door takes a breath and leaves.

The next morning everyone was up at dawn the same time Alex usually wakes up. It was still a bit dark around the ship but enough light shown threw to be able to see were your going. Alex was of course in the engine room. She was reading a section in a book about how to fix the core witch is the equivalent of an engine block in a car. Cid had the ship on auto pilot all night while they slept they would be entering Corel soon. She didn't want to get started on something before hand she said to Cloud she would fix his bike her priority was he came first so she read on. Sitting on a stool she put her legs up on the bench crossing them. She doesn't hear Nanaki come in "Ello Alex" he greets she peeks around the side of the pages. "Oh hey Nanaki what are you up to?" she asks she lays the book flat on her chest. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the reactor" he says walking closer he sits just were the bench began ."Oh? What about it?" she asks placing her feet on the floor. "Well it was very interesting I remember you saying the images would happen at random but then you touched that mans head and you saw what you wanted to see it leads me to believe your powers are growing" he says sitting. Alex pondered his statement "Ha ha I don't have powers" she laughs tossing the book onto the bench he didn't think it was funny. " you have the ability to see things other can not I've never known any one else who could do that what would you call it?" he asks moving one ear. Alex makes a face at him she thought this was outrageous at home mythical things such as what he was implying only existed in stories, countless movies, and shows that were the end result of peoples wild imaginations. But she let what he said sink in this wasn't home things here were real not dreamed up the episodes she was having were also real. "I don't know " answering him still in thought. A rumble comes threw the ship "We must be here" he says walking out. She follows.

It was warm out Cid had the ship on a slab of flat rock with its ridge just yards away "Smart Cid" she remarks stretching her arms up over her head. The sun was reflecting off the rock she had to go back into the ship for her sunglasses in order to see. The group wasn't outside yet she took this time to look around to the left in the distance Corel sat smoke could be seen coming up from buildings the saucer wasn't to far away. To the right it was just land outstretched to the sea. She hears a sound that also vibrated under her. Turning to the plane, everyone was at the entrance she walks over standing next to Barret. They were talking about the contact when Alex saw a shadow on the side of the ship. Curious she investigates, Cloud had taken his bike out like she had asked the excited feeling returned. He sees her standing there "Hey" he says to her dropping the kickstand. She bites her lips "hi" she says back he goes to her "How long do you think it will take?" he asks looking to the group watching them. She heard what he said but she was eye level with part of his body. His shirt had a zipper it was partially undone she could see his collar bone and some of his chest along with his broad shoulders. Since she didn't answer him he turns his head to her at the same time she realizes what she was doing clearing her throat "Ehem...uh hour...3 tops" she says moving to the bike "Alright then" he says still staring at her she nods and smiles he then goes to the group. Palm to her face she takes a short cut threw the cargo area for her tools and gets to work.

20 minutes into the job, the warmth from the sun on the rock was making Alex sweat it didn't help she was in her heavy coverall. She takes the top half off tying the sleeves around her waist in front of her. Luckily the shirt she was wearing underneath was ment for warm weather. It was a black tank the straps were thin it clung to her skin and cut off just below her breasts showing her stomach. Sitting down she continues the fix. It turns out one of the break lines had a small slit in it all that was needed was to remove the faulty line and install the new one. A loud sound now echoes the sky a helicopter lands on the other end of the rock. As it shuts down 2 men jump out running to the group. Were Alex was working she could see part of the front ramp, Yuffie, Tifa and cid. One of the men was big, tall, and bald jet black glasses covered his eyes he was in a black suit and wore gloves. The other man was short and skinny with bright red spiky hair. It wasn't cool looking like clouds it made Alex think of a porcupine. At the neck line it flowed down his back in a pony tail he had clear glasses that sat on his forehead. His outfit wasn't professional like the other man he wore the same jacket and pants but his shirt was a green button up. "There the contacts?" she thinks reaching for wire cutters. The helicopter being off she could hear the conversation going on Cloud asked them if they heard about someone named Carnak she also learned Reno and Rude were there names. "Yeah we've heard that name" Reno says tightening his pony tail Rude walks up next to him "He's been trying to collect materia and mako from the reactors" Rude adds adjusting his glasses. Cloud and Vincent fold their arms "What for?" Vincent asks "Not sure all we know is that he is based somewhere out in the marshlands were keeping an ear out for anything he's planning" he answers. Yuffie runs up to them "Reno when are ya gonna dye your hair back you look ridiculous!" she insults Reno glares at her "Would you stop with that! It's staying this way ok! Deal with it!" he snaps they continued to argue Barret, Cid, and Nanaki roll there eyes and walk away. Vincent annoyed enters into the ship Tifa laughs and accompanies him Cloud stayed. While that was going on Alex finished repairing the bike she gets up and rounds the corner of the ship looking at them. The argument between Yuffie and Reno escalated they shouted back and forth. The face Cloud was making made Alex laugh he looked so irritated. One arm up, hand touching the ship she watched. Cloud finally steps is "Enough! Yuffie go!" he yells pointing away from them she sticks her tongue out at Reno and leaves. Reno raises his arm like he was going to hit her Rude grabs him "I hate when she does that Cloud" he says angry Rude lets go of him "It's the way Yuffie is just ignore it" Cloud tells him hands now at his sides. "How do you travel with her? I Would of booted her ass out over the ocean a long time ago" He jokes kicking his foot up Cloud shakes his head "That I'd like see" Rude says touching his collar. Alex puts her other hand on her hip "Hey!" she yells over to Cloud they all jerk there heads Rude tips his glasses looking at her. Reno's mouth drops his tongue could of been wagging if hung any lower. Cloud just stares at her "Your all set I'm gonna check out the propellers" She informs. Cloud nods his head she turns and disappears behind the ship. Reno whips around facing Cloud "Who was that?" he asks looking back were he saw her Cloud begins to walk to were she stood Reno went with him rude stayed behind "That's Alex" Cloud answers "Alex huh?" Reno says he jumps ahead of Cloud . He stops and looks to Reno "What?" Cloud asks Reno tries to catch another glimpse of her. "What is she doing with you guys?" Reno asks still trying to find her "She's our mechanic" Cloud answers he walks more almost to the same spot Alex was. Reno follows " She your mechanic!" he says loudly Cloud stops again "Yea why?" he asks one eyebrow up. "Why! if she was my mechanic I would make sure something was broken everyday!" Reno yells throwing his arms up. Cloud shakes his head walking to his bike he looks it over and sits on it "What you don't think so?" Reno asks standing next to him Cloud gives him the death glare "Come on Cloud your a guy you haven't noticed?" he says Cloud gripes the handle bars "Noticed what?" Cloud asks Reno's eye twitches "Noticed what? How about that your mechanic is a total hottie?" he screams Cloud puts his fingers on his nose aggravated "I wonder about you sometimes" Reno says shaking his head Cloud fingers still on his nose glares at him again. "Ehem hate to interrupt" Rude says next to them Reno and Cloud bounce there heads up Rude looks at Reno "We have to go sir is waiting for us" he tells him. They turn around and walk together Reno cocks his head back to Cloud "If we get any more info on Carnak well call ya and say bye to the hottie for me" he says smiling. They run to the helicopter Cloud rolls his eyes and lets out a loud sigh "Yeah" he says to himself turning the bike on.

Alex didn't hear what Reno had said about her to Cloud she was looking for info on the propellers she wanted to make sure a mistake didn't happen they were a vital element in flight. She finds a section about them in a book and takes it outside with tools. At the rear of the plane the small propellers were low easy to reach the bigger ones were up high Alex would have to climb in order to inspect them. The smaller ones all needed to be greased they were closer to the ground dirt that flung around when they spun could get jammed locking them up. This is going to have to be done every few weeks these were used mostly when 'auto hover' is turned on if just one doesn't work right it could spell disaster. She takes out a few cans of greaser and goes down the line. The hub witch was what the blades were attached to was the only thing she needed to focus on so the bottom ones didn't take long. The big ones however were going to be a challenge she grazed over the area trying to find the easiest and safest way of getting to them. "I guess I just have to go for it" she says to herself she tucks the book in her coverall and stuffs greaser along with a few tools in her pockets. Reaching up and grabbing the plane she pushes off her feet the muscles in her arms pop out as she pulls herself on to it. She stands up and looks at the ground "There that was easy" she says proudly. She walks over to the big propellers and checks them over they weren't bad like the smaller ones but she greased them any ways. This job didn't take as long she thought it would she jumps down gathers her things puts them away then goes to find everyone.

Surprise surprise they were all in the bridge, Vincent was on 'his' wall. Nanaki, Barret and Cid all stood in front of the controls Tifa and Yuffie were sitting in the 'meeting area'. Alex leans her shoulder on the doorway watching them all. They were tight nit and knew each other so well she felt out of place. Yuffie sees her "Alex! Come sit with us!" she yells waving her arms. Alex smiles and walks over "Were have you been all day?" Tifa asks Alex sits on a couche facing them. "Well I was fixing Clouds bike then I checked out the propellers" she says hunching over. Tifa and Yuffie look at each other stunned "You fixed Clouds bike!" Yuffie questions her mouth flopped open "Uh yeah why is that so surprising?" Alex asks putting her hands together "He never lets any one near it" Tifa answers "He must really trust you if he let you work on it!" Yuffie adds. This made Alex almost blush she felt somewhat special that he only let her out of all of them touch it. Then she notices has not around "Speaking of Cloud is he?" she asks "He went for a ride he'll be back" Barret answers Alex tries to imagine what he must look like driving it the very thought tickled her. "So Alex tell us" Yuffie says Alex looks to her "Tell what?" she asks. "You must have a lot guys lined up at home" Yuffie assumes "Uh ...heh...no not really" Alex answers scratching her head Yuffie makes a face "What? No way I don't believe that " Yuffie screams Alex hangs her head "wWll its true" she answers looking at the floor. "What's wrong with the men in your world your a knock out!" Yuffie says angrily hitting her couch cushion Alex looks back at her "Men think differently about looks were I'm from its just the way it is" she answers. Yuffie folds her arms upset "Well that's crap your beautiful their all stupid to think your not" Yuffie lets out "I agree" Tifa adds. Alex shakes her head and smiles it was nice to hear but she didn't think what Yuffie said about her was true "Eye' there he is" Cid says loudly Alex looks over and sees Cloud standing just in the room "Hey" he greets to him "Well how'd she handle?" Cid asks. Cloud walks to the window he sees Alex "You did a good job" he complimented Alex smiled "Thanks" she says he keeps on and stops just at the glass. "So have you been on dates at least?" Yuffie questions Alex zips back to her "Um well yea" she answers sitting back on the couch. "And?" Yuffie continues "And what?" Alex asks. Yuffie gets closer to her "And what happened with them?" she questions Alex hated having to think about it "Nothing" she answers looking at Tifa. Cloud was now listening but made himself look like he wasn't facing the window. "You've obviously had boyfriends" Yuffie assumes "Uh no" Alex snickers rubbing her cheek. "Have you been kissed at least?" Yuffie asks Alex now was feeling embarrassed she put her hands on her lap and smashed her feet together trying to make herself small "No" she says looking away from them. Tifa and Yuffie both made the same shocked face "No?" Tifa asks Alex shook her head confirming what she said. "Awe! You poor thing you haven't had your first kiss yet!" Yuffie shouted Alex didn't want to talk about this any more especially with men in the room. "Wait!" Yuffie yells Alex looked at her Tifa did to. "Does that mean?..." she started to say Alex was afraid of what was next "Your a virgin?" she loudly whispered. Clouds eyes widened hearing this statement Alex turns beat red and covers her face with her hands "Really Yuffie!" She screams in her head. "Yuffie?" Tifa yells she thought that was a subject for their room not with the group Yuffie turns to Tifa "What?" she asks then looks back at her. Alex wanted to crawl into a whole but she knew if she didn't answer Yuffie would keep asking "Yeah" she says squinting putting her hands back on her lap. Yuffie hears this and jumps around "You are!" she yells. Clouds lifts up one eyebrow he looks to the corner of his eyes in the direction of were they were. Alex lets out a sigh "Yeah" she says under her breathe. She glances over at Cloud he didn't move since this conversation started she hoped he wasn't paying attention. "Ok I'm going back to work" she says standing up. She didn't want to look at any body she just kept her head down and went to the engine room. She sits on the stool and slams her forehead on the bench her hands at her sides "Ow" she says but doesn't move. She couldn't believe Yuffie asked that in front of them all especially Cloud not only that but now he knew the answer. "Alex you alright?" she hears next to her. Head still on the bench she turns and sees Nanaki "Just fabulous" she says sarcastic. She moves her head back on top of the bench and closes her eyes. "I heard what was said" he tells her sitting "Oh that's just wonderful" she says the bench muffles her a bit. "It wasn't the time or place to ask such a thing but just know that were are all mature adults here with the exception of Yuffie not to worry its already been forgotten" he comforts. Alex still felt upset over this but Nanaki's words made it better. She picks her head up gets off the stool walks over and sits on the floor with him "Thanks Nanaki" she says petting his head. "He doesn't act like an animal at all he's more human than anything" she says in her head. "Of course any time" he says smiling he then licks her face Alex closes one eye and wipes her cheek "I stand corrected" she thought.

Alex spent the rest of the day hiding in the engine room she didn't want to over exert herself bye doing too much in one day so she finished reading. "Done" she says closing the propeller book she rubs her eyes and stands up to stretch. She walks out of the room and sees the deck sign on the wall. She goes to the door and opens it, it was a clear night the moon shown bright on the floor. Stepping out on to it she stops at the railing in front of her. Looking out she can see a few lights coming from Corel the saucer was completely lit up "Wow" she lets out. Turning around there was a part of the plane that was flat it made a perfect spot to sit. Backing up she puts her body against it and hoists herself up on to it sitting Indian style. Staring up into the sky there were many stars all clustered together with a few stragglers it made her remember the night at the river. "I've come so far since then" she says elbows touching her knees. She thought about everything that has happened so far and how much she missed home. Cloud leaves his room and enters the hall way. About to pass the deck entrance he sees the door is open some what. He walks over to shut it then notices a shadow casted on the side of the ship. Opening the door more he sees its Alex she doesn't realize he's watching her she keeps her eyes on the sky. He strolls over to her "hey" he greets Alex looks and sees its cloud "hi" she says back. She turns her head away from him and smiles ear to ear. "What are you doing out here?" he asks stopping were she sat. Her eyes go back at him then the horizon "Just star gazing" she says he folds his arms and leans his hip on the seat "You look at the sky a lot" he states watching with her "Its the only thing that is familiar from my world" she says with a slight chuckle. Sadness then takes over he turns to her "You miss it?" he asks "Yeah" she answers staring at him the moon light gave is eyes a glow making the blue in them stand out more. To keep herself from getting flustered she shifts her focus back to the stars. Cloud kept his on her "What if you never find the clock? What will you do then?" he asks still looking at her Alex hadn't thought that far into the future yet. She leans forward "I dunno...I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it" she says slouching a lil. He shook his head no knowing what she ment "Huh?" he asks she sees he's confused "It means I'll deal with it when it comes" she says scratching her neck "Oh" he says. Her coverall was still undone at the top showing her tattoo he examines it "Nice tattoo" he compliments she peeks over her shoulder then to him "Oh yeah you like it? I got it a few years ago on my birthday" she tells him Cloud studied it more "Does it have a meaning?" he asks moving closer his hip still on the seat. She stares at the floor and smiles "It's my name" she says cocking her head to him he stares at her curious. "Alexihona it means bright star" she informs playing with her pant leg. Cloud is surprised "That's quite a name" he says putting his hands on the edge of the seat "Why do you shorten it?" he asks. She tilts her head thinking about his question "Cuz it among other things was the reason why I was made fun of so much when I was little plus its easier to say" she says rubbing her shoulder. Cloud began to feel bad for her he couldn't understand why anyone would be cruel to her "Why did they?" he asked. Alex didn't like to reminisce that it wasn't a particularly happy time in her life "I didn't look like everyone else everything about me was different from them even when I got older I couldn't escape it" she says. Cloud then remembers his childhood how he was teased all the time when he was a kid because he was different "I know what you mean" he says his eyes on the railing Alex looks back at him shocked she didn't understand why he would know how she felt he seems like someone that didn't let stuff bother him just letting things roll off his shoulders not giving them a second thought she wondered what else she didn't know. Realizing she's looking at him he gets anxious and changes the subject "Were going to Medeohiem tomorrow make sure you dress warm" he tells her. He presses off the seat heading for the door "Medeohiem what's there?" she asks. He pivots the top half of his body to her "A reactor" he answers "Oh" she says looking out to the saucer Cloud keeps his gaze on her. "Night Alex" he says she jerks her head to him "Night Cloud" she says back he continues for the door and enters the ship. Alex let out loud giggle she was also proud of herself it was the first time she didn't blush talking to him.

A couple of loud bangs on the door wake Alex right up. "Rise and shine lil missy" Cid hollers from the other side. She jumps out of bed and gets dressed she remembered what Cloud told her. She puts on 2 t- shirts, a teal v-neck long sleeve, a black jacket with padding inside, her blue pants that tied in the front, and on top of that pants that were almost the same material and color as Cloud's. 3 pairs of socks and her boots. she does her hair in a French braid her side bangs hung low on her cheek rolls on deodorant and rushes to the bathroom to brush her teethe and wash her face. "Come on Alex were waiting on you!" Yuffie calls "I'm coming!" she yells to her. She finishes and runs down the hall. Leaving the ship snow was flurrying down around her, in front of her a town sat, the group was off to the side. Walking the snow was about 6 inches deep it was cold but not to bad. She reaches everyone looking them over Yuffie now wearing pants and was holding a strange weapon. It had four blades shaped into an X the middle of it was the handle. Tifa also in pants wore gloves. Cid had is jacket on a staff with a blade at the end was clenched in one hand, Nanaki was lucky he had fur. Vincent and Barret didn't change. Cloud didn't either except he had his sword with him. "Aren't you guys cold?" she asks them "This isn't cold" Barret laughs Vincent walks over to her. "Try sleeping in a coffin now that's cold" he jokes Alex's eyes grow big "Please tell me he's kidding" she thinks. "I don't get cold I'm always warm...lets move" cloud says turning around they all walk down a street with buildings on either side everything was dark and gloomy with snow or ice piled on to it there was also no sign of life "were is everyone?" Alex asks "its been abandoned for some time" Tifa answers not far from the town a tall structure lay before them it had high peaks and large smoke stacks with icicles hanging from them. Beyond this was what looked like a cut in the land the group walks to the building Alex strays off and goes past to investigate it. She now sees they are on a cliff high up in mountains all around were snow tops a very large mountain rows above them all. To the left of her a small ledge extended around the cliff making a walkway. "Alex!" she hears behind her she turns her head and sees Barret waving her back she runs over and goes with them inside. The door shutting behind it was pitch black Alex couldn't see any of them Cloud flips a few switches. Light after light turns on revealing the reactor it looked almost the same as the one in Junon. They all gather at the materia extraction area Alex walks around hearing there conversation "what do ya think?" Cid asks cloud skims over the reactor "looks the same as before" Tifa says watching him cloud continues saying nothing "you don't think that Carnak has been here have you?" Yuffie asks throwing her hands over here head "it doesn't appear that way" Nanaki states sniffing the reactor cloud comes out from the other side of it "only one way to find out" he says they all turn to him he points to Alex. Looking at the out line of the reactor building on a wall. Alex now feels eyes on her she also notices that they've all gone quiet. Turning her head they all stood staring at her "What?" she asks not knowing what their thinking. "We need ya ta' do yer magic on this and find out if any one besides us was in 'ere" Cid says "My magic?" Alex says one brow lifted cid walks goes behind Alex and pushes her to the reactor "Wait cid!" she yells "you know your I cant breathe while seeing stuff almost die but don't... thing" Yuffie says smiling cid gets her in front of the reactor "its not magic! And like I said it comes at random it might not work this time!" she yells folding her arms "what about when you touched that mans head? Maybe it's not as random as you think" Tifa says both hands on Alex's shoulders. "Damn I forgot about that" Alex thought "You can do it" Tifa encouraged "Yeah!" Yuffie shouted followed by a jump "Yep" Cid adds. Alex stared at each of them she felt like such an outsider after joining the group her soul purpose was to only be there mechanic but its become much more now. They needed her and depended on her to collect info and memories long thought forgotten. She finally felt like part of them finding her place still she had doubts about herself. She turned to Cloud he nods his head looking right back at her it was all that was needed. She closes her eyes "Ok" she says with a loud sigh opening them. She slowly walked around the reactor touching every inch of it nothing, not even a hint. They all watched as she went around she looked over to them and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess there isn't anything to see" she says "Good try though" Tifa commends. They start to talk amongst themselves Alex turns back to the reactor "Oh well" she says. She then sees a mark next to a bolt, moving closer it was dark it looked like grease she places her fingers on it. She gets that feeling her hearing goes she gasps for air dropping to the floor her hand still on the mark. everyone hears this and surrounds her Tifa puts her hands on Alex's face "Alex!" she screams Alex is in the reactor but instead of them in front of her she sees men and women in lab coats walking all around the reactor is at high capacity. they were gathering materia and mako a man standing in the same spot as Alex had a clipboard jotting things down he bends over examining a tiny crack running his finger over it he cuts himself a small drop of blood lands making the mark. She can hear Tifa calling her name and feel air easily pour into her lungs her sight returns. she sits up "are you alright?" Tifa asks hanging her hands at her sides "yea" Alex answers "what did ya see was it Carnak?" cid questions she stands up "no he wasn't here I need a min" she answers walking out the door letting it shut on its own. She felt the snow crush under feet flakes coming down hit her face as she moved. She past a few shop windows but Alex did not view in. The episode she just had kind of knocked the wind of out her she wanted to walk it off alone. Stopping in front of a house she saw a porch swing swaying with the breeze. she goes over to it and stares but her eyes lead her into a daze. She thought about everything mom, dad, Sarah, how worried they must be about her. Who was covering for her at work? If the doctor said anything about her being missing and if he did, was it the truth? How is Fara holding up since she left? Her mind jumped to the clock "why me?" she asks herself she felt the clock made a mistake. To the left of her was a window her reflection showed her head and shoulders. She stands in front of it looking at herself she reaches out and touches the glass. Memories popped in of people that complimented her beauty or said how great she was since arriving to this world. Though years of being called ugly or freak were branded into her, countless after school beat downs, rejected by men, and not really having many friends to talk to was her life for so long. "I just don't see it"...she quivers closing her eyes her hand still pressed on the window forms into a fist. "I'm not special...I'm not amazing...I'm not beautiful...I'm not any of those things why does everyone say that I am" she says trying to hold her tears. "I'm not a fighter I'm not strong enough for this" she whispers putting her head down then for some reason a memory snuck threw. It was when she was at the river with that creature she knew she wouldn't stand a chance against it but she was willing to go toe to toe with it. The old Alex wouldn't have done that instead she would of ran risking being hunted down. Alex always ran away she never faced anything head on not confronting her fears. She opens her eyes in realization. she let people torment her and get into her head thinking she wasn't worth anything that they were better than her making her hate her own being. In turn it wasn't them she was running from it was her. She looks back at her reflection for the first time she could see herself not anyone else. "I can do this" she says smiling Alex wasn't going to give up she finally befriended people she could rely on that had faith in her not once did they put her down or have one ill thought towards her it was time she did the same. During this, everyone stayed at the reactor entrance they were all concerned about Alex she could be seen from were they stood. "Is she going to be ok?" Yuffie asks drawing with her foot in the snow "She's been so brave" Tifa says Cid lights a cigerette "She's a tough one" he says puffing away. Nanaki and Barret stood facing them. Cloud focused on her saying nothing. Alex leaves the porch and heads in the direction of the ship. They all still watching her Vincent was to. He then sees a shadow move from the back of the same house Alex was at he turns to Cloud. "We've got company" he warns Cloud looks with him "Look alive people!" he yells to the group. They all spring in to action "Vincent get Alex to the ship" Cloud orders. Vincent nods and flies off. Sword unsheathed Cloud runs in the opposite direction. Alex comes to a stop dead center at a cross roads. In front was the ship in back the reactor the sides of her were small ally ways made by the town. She hears a clicking sound; turning to it a tall man with brown hair and eyes was wearing a dark red suit with black trim holding a large gun pointed at her. Alex's eyes grew wider than ever she was scared stiff shots fired in coming from behind her this made the man hide. Alex felt an arm go around her stomach and is lifted away. Only moving her eyes, Vincent was the one carrying her. Gun fire now rained down it wasn't just the man they were surrounded. Vincent shot at every red suit he saw. They ended up in a different ally, bullets soaring in ricocheting off of poles, roof tops, and siding. Windows were being blown out the sound coming from that and the guns was so loud Alex covered her ears. Hiding behind Vincent she saw Yuffie and Nanaki fighting with other people in red. Jumping around she threw her weapon and it came back like a boomerang. She heard foot steps on her side, looking, a man in red had 2 guns. He shoots one at Vincent grabbing Alex he ducks out of the way keeping her on his back retaliating with his gun. She hears a click. Turning her head another man in red has a bigger gun on her. Leaving Alex on the ground Vincent jumps in the air the men follow shooting at him. Vincent's gun was louder than all of threes together "Alex run!" Vincent yells. She jumps up and dashes to the end of the ally bullets landed near her feet. Rounding the corner, she pressed her back up against the wall of the building. Men in red were scattered all around shooting everyone. Cid was using his staff, Tifa was fighting with her bare hands, Barret was shooting to but his metal hand wasn't a hand anymore it was a strange looking machine gun, and Cloud was no were in sight. Suddenly Alex felt a small jolt in her body and with it a flash of an image of a bullet flying at her face. She quickly drops down to the ground the bullet that she saw hits the very spot her head was at. shots fire in a row towards her she gets up and runs away from them they follow her to the reactor. She crouches against a small wall at the base of the entrance. Fighting four men at once, Cloud conjures up energy from his body and flings it with his sword thrusting them backwards it disarming them. He leaps on to a roof and finds the group fighting together. Jumping down landing next to Tifa he blocks a few bullets from hitting him with his sword "Get to the ship!" he yells. They slowly make themselves a path to it from were they stood. It wasn't far, Vincent rushes in to help Cloud sees him "Where's Alex?" he asks. Vincent fires off a few shots "We were ambushed I thought she would be with you" Vincent answers. They start to enter the plane Cid turns on the engine "Damn it" Cloud says under his breathe. He looks to them "Get out of here" he orders running back out dodging bullets "Cloud!" Tifa screams he turns his head "I'm gonna find her get out of here!" he screams back the ramp closes the ship starts to lift off. Not hearing as much gunfire now she peeks out. Not seeing anyone she tries to move and feels something press on the top of her head. Looking up, a man in red held a gun to her. Alex jumps back up against the wall he gets closer, she shakes in fear "How did you know?" he asks her she's to scared to answer "How did you know!" he yells pointing the gun between her eyes. She lets out a scream, he reaches for her "Hey!" is heard. Alex looks to the left of her Cloud stood sword drawn "Don't you touch her" he says glaring at him. The man moves his gun to him. "Who the hell are you?" the man asks "Heh I was just gonna ask you the same thing" Cloud snickers. The man waits and then pulls out something small and square with a red button on it "Maybe well save the introductions for next time" he says pushing it. Explosions then blast out from the hilltops above they all had snow that accumulated for many years causing it all to slide down to the town. Alex turns to the man but he disappeared "Who was that guy?" she thought. Cloud puts his sword away and rushes to Alex standing her up "We gotta move!" he says. He takes her hand and pulls her to the edge of the cliff it was a shear drop on the other side. Alex begins to panic "What do we do?" she asks .Cloud scans around and sees the ledge Alex noticed before going into the reactor. The snow was closing in on them "Come on!" he yells taking her onto the ledge the snow just misses Alex's feet. Running a bit, they stop to see. It was like a waterfall of snow bellowing out it seemed never ending. Alex lets out a sigh and puts her hand on her chest. The ground shakes they look up the snow was coming over the top Cloud jumps in front of her his chest almost on hers using his body as a shield protecting her as it flowed. Alex gets nervous but at the same time her heart was a flutter he was so close his arms were around her but not didn't touch. His palms were flat against the ridge wall he wasn't looking at her he was watching the snow. She could see his chest was moving up and down rapidly. He moves his eyes to her she does the same but quickly looks away. She sees the rock around and underneath them was creaking under the pressure of the snow "Cloud?" Alex says he looks "Crap go!" he screams. They run along the ledge every part they had stepped broke off the path dropped leading all the way to the ground below. Cloud jumped down first and grabbed Alex repeating this over and over. They make it off, holding her arm he tugs her away from the crumbling cliffs. As they catch there breath he holds up her arm examining her "You ok?" he questions "I'm fine Cloud" she answers "You?" she adds he nods his head. They stood in silence watching Medeohiem reduced to rubble. "We better get going the next town is four miles from here" he says walking away. She's puzzled "Town? What about everyone else?" she asks. He turns back "Don't worry there fine come on" he answers. He continues on she begins to follow. The snow here was deeper it went up to her shins making trekking threw it difficult, he of coarse wasn't having a problem. "So were are we going?" she asks hopping over the snow trying to catch up to him. "Nebeilhiem Tifa and I are from there" he replies she thinks about Tifa for a moment "You and her?" she asks "Yea" he says. Alex wondered if there was anything to that, she didn't think this was the time to ask though "So what's it like there?" she questions. Her foot then slips making her fall on her butt she lets out a yelp before impact. Cloud stops and looks at her. He shakes his head trying not to smile he goes over to and helps her up. "Step were I did" he tells her. eH walks ahead Alex heads his advice she puts one foot in the indent he left then the another. She could now walk the same pace as him she looked at him and smiled. It started to get dark Alex's feet were numb. Trees, grass, or any other forms of life weren't present it was like a snowy dessert. Cloud stops, she watched him it was as if he was searching for something "What are you looking for?" she asks he doesn't answer. he strolls on stopping every few minutes to search. He finally sees it "Other there" he says bringing her to an opening on a large hill. "What is this?" she asks he enters "It's a cave this area is riddled with them it's not much but it will keep the wind off of us" he says. Flurries now fell from the sky "And perfect timing to" he adds. Going in, it was pretty deep the light from outside only shown a certain amount. Touching the walls, she along with Cloud inspect the inside. she couldn't see her leg hits something "Ow!" she yells he bends down reaching his hands out. From the angle she was watching he was touching something that was big and looked heavy. He grabs hold and pulls making the muscles in his arms bulge. Alex tried not to look it was a loosing battle. Something releases into his hand "Just as I thought" he says holding it up to her. Even though she couldn't see it very well she could make out that it was a piece of wood. "How did that get in here?" she questions going over to him. "Someone put it here it's an old camp site there's even a fire place" he says pointing to rocks behind her. She was standing in pretty much the same spot yet she did not notice them. "Ill brake all this up you fix the rocks" he commands taking out his sword. She could hear chopping sounds while she arranged the rocks in a circle. As he went along he would drop materials next to her Alex took it a step further and set up the pit. It was almost completely dark now they had enough to burn for the night. "Ok um...how are we gonna light this?" she asks kneeling next to it. He holds out his hand, an orange reddish energy spills out. Alex watches in amazement it turns in to flames flying out igniting the pit. She stares at him stunned he sees the look on her face "Fire materia" he informs her sitting down in front of it half Indian style one leg propped up his left arm hanging off of it on his knee. "Oh" she says moving closer to him sitting with her feet out warming them. A silence comes over, he watched the fire as it popped and cracked throwing in a few new pieces to burn. Alex peered at him the light from the flames danced off his eyes she wanted so badly to know more about him but he's always so closed off. "What's it like in Nebeilhiem?" she asks he doesn't move "Its a small town at the base of Mount Nebiel not many people live there" he answers still looking at the fire. "Your family will be happy to see you" she assumes he turns his head away "The only family I had was my mother" he answers "Had?" she questioned "She died" he replies. Alex felt sorry for him plus she wanted to kick herself he looked so sad thinking about her. "I'm sorry Cloud" she apologies he turns to her he saw the sadness in her eyes and it was for him. "Don't be it was a long time ago" he tells her she decides to change the subject. "So you and Tifa are from there did you guys grow up together?" she asked "Yea" he answers. Alex wanted to dig more into this she was interested to see if there was anything going on between them. They seem very close he and her are always around each other and out of all of them her opinion he valued the most. She took a chance "So uh...are you two?" she started to say he cocks his head to her he had a feeling he knew what she was implying. "You know..." she finished scratching her ear she felt silly for asking but she really wanted to find out. "No it's not like that with me and her" he says he was somewhat flattered at her curiosity. "Oh I just figured" she says looking away smiling "YES!" she screamed in her head. The silence returns for a bit "When's your birthday?" he questions she jerks her head to him. She was happy that he was now asking questions instead of it being just her "Mine already came and went its Jan 20 Th" she answers. His eyes gleamed from the light of the flames she didn't look away. She remembered what she told herself about facing things head on and not run any more. This time he got nervous and turned to the fire. Then she started to laugh out of no were Cloud looks to her confused "What's so funny?" he asks. "This is the second time you saved my ass" she says still laughing Cloud smiles a lil and lets out a quick chuckle. "By the way Cloud ...I never thanked you...so thank you" she says "No problem" he says back. A yawn sneaks up on her "You should get some rest we have a long day ahead" he says. She lays on the cold rock floor arms under her head making a pillow her legs together knees to her stomach. The flames weren't to high she could still see Cloud "What about you?" she asks he looks at her "Don't worry about me go to sleep" he tells her. She keeps her eyes on him for a minute then closes them. Cloud fell asleep not to long after she did. A strange sound wakes him he sits up and listens. It was coming from Alex. He crawls over to her, the noise was her teethe chattering she was also shivering severely the fire was still lit and going strong he throws more in to it stands up and unbuckles his pack.

The morning light was beaming into the cave it was hitting Alex directly in the face. She slowly opens her eyes for some reason she cant move "What's going on?" she thought then she realizes that she laying on something warm and something was covering her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Clouds pack draped on her since it had extra fabric that hung down to his feet it made the perfect blanket. Looking further she saw Clouds arms around her she jerks her head up she was on his chest he was sound asleep his back was against the wall she felt herself go up with every inhale and exhale. Her heart was pounding "Oh my god" she whispers "When did he?..." she pondered she didn't feel him move her at all while she slept she wasn't sure why he did this. As nerve racking as this was she didn't want it to end he was so comfortable and she felt safe with him. At this moment she didn't care about getting back to the others or even going home. Seeing the pull-tab on his zipper, she plays with it only using her index finger and thumb. Feeling this he moves Alex sits up his arms drop the pack falls down he opens one eye the sun was blinding the other. "Hey" he says to her shielding his eye from the light. "Hey" she says "Um..." she adds she can feel her self turning red she couldn't help it. He knew she wondered what this was about "You were shivering last night" he says standing he takes his pack and straps it on. "Oh" she says getting up he goes over to the fire and proceeds to put it out. Alex watched him "He was keeping me warm" she thinks. She remembered when he said he never gets cold and he used that to stop her from freezing to death. She put her sleeve to her face hiding a smile. It now extinguished, they make there exit it was very bright outside the sun was reflecting off the snow "Come on this way" he says she stays right behind him. They traveled for hours having to stop a few times cuz Alex wasn't used to the terrain or the altitude. "Please tell me were almost there" she huffs "Yea almost" he answers he could hear she was struggling he stops and turns to her. "Breath in threw your nose out your mouth it will help" he tells her. She nods and starts to do so, they head on. It was now late afternoon the weather was changing it wasn't as cold anymore. Alex was thinking they must be getting close. He rushes up a small hill and stops at the top she meets him. "There it is" he says pointing she follows his finger. A small cluster of buildings sat at the base of a large mountain just like he said. "Lets go" he says going down the other side seeing that it was wet snow she tread lightly she didn't want to fall. As they got closer it became much warmer starting to sweat Alex had to take off her jacket tying it around her waste. They reach the town entrance thick grass stretched far out to the mountain, trees were in full bloom "Alex!" Cloud calls out she turns to him she was to busy looking at the scenery. She runs over to him they stood in front of a decent sized house in back of them was a water tower. "This is Tifa's house come on" he says walking to the door. She thought it was strange that they were going into Tifa's house and not his "Why aren't we going to your house?" she asks. His hand on the knob he turns his head to her "I lived over there" he says motioning his head to the house right next to Tifa's it was much smaller. "Someone else lives there now" he adds "Oh" she says he goes into the house. Walking over she almost has her hand on the knob but a funny feeling comes over her. It wasn't the same feeling she has when an episode is about to happen this was something different and it was coming from the left of her. Looking over, a path goes past Cloud's old house. In the distance a much bigger house sat that was gated it seemed dark and ominous it just didn't sit right with her. She shrugs it of and enters the house. In the living room, it more or less resembled a log cabin inside everything was dusty and left untouched. Cloud was in the kitchen leaning on the counter. "The bathroom is upstairs on the left if you want to clean up Tifa's room is right next to it if you want to change she wont mind if you borrow some clothes" he informs her. Alex was relieved her pants and feet were soaked from the snow she also had dirt spots from making the fire pit and laying on the ground. "Ok what are you gonna do?" she asks. He takes out his phone "I'm gonna call let them know were we are" he says pushing buttons he holds it up to his ear she can hear it ringing. She climbs the stairs at the top she can hear Cloud talking and she can also hear the voice on the other side clearly it was Tifa "Hey" he says "Cloud! Are you ok? Is Alex with you!" she asks "Yea were fine" he answers "Were are you guys?" she questions "Were in Neiblhiem at your house" he says "Ok well be there soon" she tells him she heard him hang up. In the bathroom she turns on the water and undresses. The water was nice and hot it felt good on her feet seeing as they were wet for almost 2 days. The shower turns off, wrapping herself in a towel she pokes her head out the door to make sure Cloud isn't around and goes into Tifa's room. It wasn't a grown up room it was more like a lil girl lived here. Pink flowered bed sheets and toys lay out. A dresser was next to the door. She opens it, clothes sat right on top she reaches for them. Holding one up it was a white T-shirt that cut off just at the belly button under it was a black skirt putting them on the skirt sat just past her butt. "Geez Tifa" she says to herself. She lets her hair hang finding socks she slips back into her boots. Gathering her clothes from the bathroom she goes back down the stairs. Cloud is still in the kitchen his back to her, she places her clothes on the counter. "Hi" she says to him "Hey" he replies still not facing her "You make out alright?" he asks turning to her. He sees what she wearing and does a double take his eyes go straight to her legs. "Yea this was all I could find the top is a lil big" she answers pulling on it. "Uh..." he lets out walking over he stops just in front of her she rubs her arm. "You look" he started to say checking her she glances up at him "It's fine" he says. The blood starts to rush to her face, she smiles. "Uh thanks" she says biting her lips he continues his gaze "No problem" he half whispers. The front door then swings open "Alex! Cloud! Thank goodness" Tifa yells she hurries over to them. "We were worried sick about you guys you're not hurt are you?" she asks. She then realizes what Alex is wearing "Well look at you!" she says tugging on the shirt. "You should wear stuff like this more often especially skirts you have great legs" she compliments. "Uh heh...thanks" Alex says rubbing her neck embarrassed. It made Cloud uncomfortable hearing this "Ok let's get out of here" Tifa says. Alex grabs her clothes and they all run for the ship witch was grounded out side the town near the entrance with the ramp already down. She enters and heads for her room passing by Yuffie on the way "Hey!" she yells Alex stops. "Good to have ya back and wow you look amazing in that!" she says walking around her "Thanks Yuffie" Alex says laughing. Yuffie then bolts down the hall Alex shakes her head opening the door to her room. She hears a door open next to her she cocks her head, Cloud is about to enter his room. They stare at each other his eyes leave hers a few times and go to her body. She smiles, he nods his head going into his room she goes into hers shuts the door behind her and drops on to her bed "Wow" she says to herself giggling burying her face in her pillow.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next few weeks consisted of just flying around, since running into 'The men in red' everyone wanted to take the time and form some sort of plan as to how to deal with them and find out who they were. Since the engine was clean and almost fully restored Alex didn't have much to do except log ins, routine checks, and the occasional clean ups after cid 'fixes' things. They had meetings every day about what happened in Modeoheim Alex wasn't called to any of them. She would periodically go into the bridge looking at the controls and over hear them talking. It was always the same who were they? Why were they at Medeoheim? And from Yuffie why red? She didn't mind that she wasn't asked to join in the meetings she thought that was more the groups speed. Plus, she didn't really think she would be any help. Relaxing on her bed in her room she rolls over on to her side. Being in that position made her think about when she was in the cave with Cloud laying on top of him. He was so warm and cozy she wished it lasted longer than it did. She's never been held like that by a man before. She always wondered what it was like now that she knew she wanted more. The door opens Tifa and Yuffie enter "I don't care I'm sick of having these meetings we never get any were!" Yuffie yells plopping on her bed. "Yuffie stop complaining" Tifa says taking off her shoes. "There's a reason why we have them" she adds sitting on her bed. "You guys come up with anything?" Alex asks them "No nothing yet we will" Tifa answers not moving "Yeah right" Yuffie lets out Tifa sighs and ignores her. "Hey Yuffie What's the date today?" Alex asks Yuffie flies up "April 27 TH" she answers then slams back down her face in her pillow. Alex has a thought "Hey Cloud's birthday is coming up soon" she says Tifa turns to her "Yea what about it?" she asks. "Well what do you guys do for birthdays?" she questions they both look at each other "We don't do anything why do you ask?" Tifa answers Alex thinks this is strange "You don't do anything at all? In my world birthdays are a big thing" she states. They both sit up facing her "Well we don't do anything here" Tifa replies. This makes Alex a lil sad if her birthday was treated like just a regular day it would make her upset. She decided a change was in order "We should do something for him" she says "Like what?" Tifa asks "Well celebrate it make the day all about him" Alex replies. Tifa and Yuffie make faces and laugh. "Uh I don't think that's a good idea Alex he's not the celebrating type" Yuffie informs laughing "Why not?" Alex asks "I think he would feel like he doesn't have anything to celebrate about he's had a pretty tough life" Tifa answers. Alex didn't want to hear that, as rough as each year would get for her she would always be happy when her birthday rolled around." It doesn't matter how bad you've had it your birthday only comes once a year its the one day were you don't have to worry about anything" she says hanging her head down. Tifa and Yuffie see that this is very important to her "What do you think he would like to do?" Tifa asks. Alex lifts her head and smiles hearing this "What about the saucer? It's an amusement park right? Lets go there well get everyone one involved but don't Let Cloud know what were planning" she tells them jumping up. Yuffie then gets worried "Oh geez he's gonna kill us I know it" Yuffie says with her hand over her face. "No he wont it will be fun" Alex assures "Well you better be right I don't wanna be smothered in my sleep after this" Yuffie says. Tifa laughs laying on her bed, Alex rolls her eyes then thinks about her statement for minute. If Cloud did become angery he would come after her first since she is the mastermind behind all of this "Your not the one who should worry about that" she thought.

Everyone was very apprehensive about doing this it took a lot of convincing before they were on board. Meeting secretly in various rooms this time it was being held in the engine room. Nanaki with his sensitive hearing kept an eye out for Cloud. Alex, did her logs as they talked " I'm sorry I still think its a bad idea" B arret says "i agree he's not gonna like this" Cid says cigerette in hand "Were gonna die" Yuffie says in the fetal position. Alex slams her book shut "Stop it! All of you!" she yells walking to the middle of them. "I've only known you guys a short time including Cloud and from what I've seen he sticks his neck out for you without being asked and not needing a thank you in return even if he doesn't show it deep down he'll appreciate this I know he will" she adds with her left hand on her hip. Heads turn back and forth to one another " Alright ya can count on me" Cid sighs everyone else nods after. "Good now his birthday is in a few weeks try not to blow the whistle till then" she says making a face a Yuffie. Vincent and cid were sitting next to her she turns thinking that was for them then she realizes its for her "What are you looking at me for!" she screeches throwing her hands up. "Because Yuffie you tend to be a blabber mouth" Nanaki throws in watching the hall "I am not!" she pouts folding her arms they then begin to argue. Alex rolls her eyes she trys to calm them all down. "He's coming!" Nanaki informs one by one they exit leaving Alex alone. Cloud sees them quickly leave all saying hi while passing him. Suspicious, he stops at the door way brow lifted looking at Alex. She glances over to him smiles waves then goes back to work. He stares at her a few moments more shrugs it off and continues on his way. She jerks back to make sure he was gone "Whew that was close" she whispers stretching out her bottom lip blowing the bangs off her cheek.

later in the day Alex went to the bridge Cid was hunched over looking at all the screens she goes over and stops on the other side of the controls leaning over them. "So Cid...were are we going next?" she asks "Well we need to refuel so its off to rocket town" he answers tapping the fuel meter screen. "Whats it like there?" she questioned " Its a small town its were I'm from" he says now at the helm. Alex became interested in his origins with the group "How did you meet everyone?" she asks. Cid puts a cigerette in his mouth " Actually iImet Tifa, Barret and Cloud there they needed te' use a smaller plane I had the Tiny Bronco been wit' 'em ever since" he explained lighting up. After she joined she observed something that didn't make any sense to her " Cid tell me you own this ship so why does Cloud give the orders?" she questioned "Cuz' he's the one in charge" he says smoke flows out of his nose. Alex folds her arms puzzled "Yep it was decided unanimously he has the back round to do so he's never steered us wrong… me...I'm perfectly fine with just fly'in" he says. "Back round? What do you mean by that?" she asks. Cid looks at her he realizes he said to much and doesn't say any more it just makes her more curious about him. Cloud never liked to talk about himself just talking about his mother was difficult when ever she would ask about him the subject was either changed or a small simple answer was given that didn't explain anything. It was as if it was painful even for them to speak about like they were right there with him. Knowing that she wasn't going to get more out of Cid she enters her room Tifa was organizing her things on her side. She sits at the end of her bed "Tifa can I ask you something?" she says. Tifa opens a drawer to her beauru "Sure" she answers taking a few things out and placing them on her bed. "You said Cloud's had a tough life...well exactly how tough?" she questioned. Tifa stops mid reach into her drawer she stands there for a min in silence "You ask a lot about that why are you so interested?" she says taking more things out. "It's just...you all told me about your pasts and your lives and you even know things about one another but when it comes to him no one wants to talk about it...its like one big secret ...why is it that I'm not allowed to keep things from you and you from each other but its ok for him to I just don't understand what happened that was so bad?" she states. Tifa stops what she is doing and sits with her "It's wasn't one thing it was many" she says "like what?" Alex asks Tifa turns her head away " Horrible things...that's all you need to know" she answers Tifa goes back to the drawer. Alex stands up "Thats not good enough! Why is this topic always avoided! What is the reason?" she yells stomping her foot. Tifa cocks her head to the right "If you want to know so badly then go ask him " she whispers. Frustrated Alex leaves and goes to the engine room she grabs a screw driver and twirls it around in her hand she paced back and forth thinking about what tifa said. It didn't surprise her that she didnt give her any more info on Cloud's past. She wondered what it is that's so uncomfortable to say. Was is about his mom? Was there more to it then her just dieing? Were they all involved? Alex ran those questions in her head over and over it was clear that Tifa was right the only way she would truly find out is to hear it from him but it would have to wait till after his birthday she didn't want to ruin it.

The elevator feeling comes over her the ship rumbles the engine shuts down. Outside it was overcast the sky was covered in grey. Looking around it was a small town just like Cid told her. A general store, hotel, and around 15 houses as well as a small grocery were huddled together. Soaring above all of this was a rocket tower. Alex now had feeling where the name came from but there was no rocket in sight. Part of the tower was leaning off to the side meaning the rocket must of been launched long ago. The ship was parked off to the side next to a huge tank Cid hooks up a hose and flips a switch on it. He walks ahead "Come on this e'll be a while" he informs. They all followed him to the house closest to the tower. Inside you could tell it was a mans house. Old furniture with tares in them that were taped up and whiskey bottles full or half full were sprawled out on the kitchen counters. "This is my house make yer'self at home" he says to Alex pouring himself a glass. Barret pours one to. They all sat at the table Vincent stood in the corner, Nanaki was on the floor next to Alex. They all talked for hours telling stories about when they were kids Vincent and Cloud kept quiet. She got why Vincent didn't say anything he never does but she hoped Cloud would. Just one story, just one thing about himself that could give a clue as to who he was. She was sitting right across from him his arms were folded staring at the table she wondered whether he was even listening or off in his thoughts. Cid and Barret passed a bottle sliding it on the table it stopped at Alex. She picked it up, looked at the label, took off the cap, and sniffed it. "Woah" she says waving her hand in front of her face "That lil missy is aged ten years good stuff" Cid informs her taking the bottle and pouring more into his glass. "Have some Alex" Tifa insists smiling "Me? Nah I'm good" she says sitting back in her chair. "What's te' matter my whiskey not good enough f'er ya?" he asks "No no its not that" Alex answers "Maybe she's never had a drink before" Tifa lets out. Cloud was now listening to the conversation he's had Cid's whiskey even he had a hard time handling it. "No I..." Alex tries to say Yuffie cuts in "It adds to the list of the other things she hasn't done" she says "Oh no not this again" Alex says under breathe. "You talking 'bout the no boyfriends?" Barret asks taking a sip. Alex covers her face witch is now red. Nanaki lays down, Vincent rolls his eyes. "Don't forget the no kissing and..." Yuffie almost finishes Alex jumps in "Ok! Could we not!" she yells taking the bottle. She throws the cap off and drinks from it she cringes as it burns going down her throat. She slams the bottle on the table "There" she adds they fall silent "Ok then" Tifa says the subject changes. Cloud wide eyed smirks he would of done the same thing if it was him. "Well Oshera must be full by now" Cid says downing his last glass. Back at the ship Cid unhooks the hose, the ramps comes down and they all pour in. "Well you showed them" Nanaki says to Alex "Thanks" she replies with a smile. She hurries to the bathroom gurgles on some water and brushes her teethe to get the taste out.

It was finally here the day before Cloud's birthday. The last meeting the group had was a few days ago they decided to head up to the saucer today and start the 'party' early. The problem was the only way to get to the saucer was from a tram that left from Corel. So a plan was set to keep Cloud from figureing out what they were doing. The story was that the tram in Corel broke down and that they were contacted because of Alex and the good work she did with the electrical in the houses the last time. Barret made sure of it. It was early, after landing they all climb a small hill. A tiny station sat just at the end of the path. The tram was blue two thick cables on top of it ran straight over to the saucer. "Barret!" turning around to the station two men stood right behind them. "Odie, Luko good to see ya" he greets them pounding his fists with there's. They look the group over "So witch one is Alex?" the one Barret called odie asks. Alex steps forward "Me" she says raising her hand holding her tools in the other. "Come with me" Odie says directing her to the tram. They climb to the top of it from a ladder on the side and make way to a pulley that moved the tram up and down the cables. she squats down "You jammed it nicely done" she commends not looking up at him. She didn't want to give any indication something was up. Thankfully they couldn't be heard but Cloud was watching and he is very observant. "When Barret asks for a favor its no question we do it" he says standing next to her "Good to know" she says back tinkering away. Twenty five minutes later, Alex finished the fix and checked over the other pulleys just in case. Now that the tram was safe to use it was time to get everyone into it " Lets go for a ride guys" Alex says going in, they all follow behind. Cloud stood at the door arms folded he thought this was odd. Alex sees him standing outside the tram "Come on Cloud" she says waving him on. In his mind he thought something wasn't right about this it was strange that vincent went in no problem his guard up, he walks in. The tram starts to move, it went at a good pace. Out the windows the moutains in the west and the tree line in the east could be made out perfectly. At the saucer the door flings open everyone gets out they head over to the entrance. Cloud was about to turn and go back to the tram when everyone except Vincent jumps around him yelling surprise "Uh...what's going on?" he asks extremely confused. "Happy birthday Cloud!" Yuffie yells still jumping "Happy birthday Cloud" Nanaki says wagging his tail Cloud's is in complete shock "Uh?..." he says not knowing what to think "Were spending a few days here Happy birthday Cloud" Tifa says smiling and laughing. Barret walks over to him "Happy birthday spiky" he says patting his back. Cloud doesn't know how to react or what to say "Yep happy birthday" Cid says puffing away on a cigerette. Cloud looks at Vincent he just nods at him. "Come on lets go to the hotel!" Alex yells they all walk in. After paying the entrance fee they stop. Alex's eyes widened in a amazement. So many rooms, restaurants, booths, and next to some of them were door ways that led to other places. It was noisy hundreds of people were walking around or eating. Children, laughed playing games. Bright lights and music amerced the back round. "Wow" Alex lets out it wasnt like the amusement parks at home it was better. Cloud stands next to tifa and makes a face at her she looks at him. "What?" she asks he continues staring at her " What is this about?" he asks her tifa smiles "What do you think this is about its for your birthday" she answers he rolls his eyes. "It's a waste of time" he replies Tifa gets angry. "Look a lot of thought and work went into this can't you at least try to enjoy yourself? When was the last time you let loose and had fun?" she snaps at him. He turns his head away thinking about her statement. he couldn't remember when the last time was. But he really didn't want to go threw with this he was never the partying type he was always a loner but since they were already here he knew he was just going to have to endure it and humor them "Alright fine" he sighs. They go to the hotel got there keys and went to there rooms to settle in. Cloud walks into his room and sees his sword and few other things were on his bed "Geez" he whispers. He now understood how much work really went into this he thought that this must of been planned for days if not weeks in advanced. Still, he wished they hadn't. He heard them all talking outside his door he opens it and steps out into the hall. "I want to play games" Yuffie says "I'm starvin' I wanna eat" Cid says rubbing his stomach "I wanna see the new weapons area maybe I can get something for my hand" Barret says. Alex sees Cloud "Now now everyone these next few days are all about Cloud lets ask him what he wants to do" she says. They all turn to him he didn't want to do anything. He looks at Tifa she glares right back at him, he thinks about there conversation a few minutes ago "Lets eat" he mumbles. Tifa smiles knowing no matter how hard he tried he wasn't going to get out of this. They leave the hotel and go threw a door way leading to a section all full of restaurants. They sat down in a place called Rizaz ate, then walked around. Alex had never been there before so she wanted to explore a little. After awhile they stop at a door way for the hotel "Ok Cloud what do you want to do next?" Alex asks he looks at her he then Tifa. Tifa, lifts one brow up staring at him he thinks about the question for a moment. Then he comes up with a way to get his aggression out "The arena" he finally answers. Yuffie, Cid, and Barret get excited. Cloud needed to get his sword at the hotel they waited for him at the front desk. "So what's the arena?" Alex questioned "It's a place were you can battle and if you make it to the end you win a prize" Tifa answered. "What do you win?" Alex asks "It varies" she says "Who do they fight?" Alex asks Yuffie jumps in front of her "You'll see" she laughs. Alex pondered this not knowing what to expect. Cloud comes back to them, they go threw a series of door ways ending up at the arena entrance. Large steps lead to tall double doors. A man stood at the top with his hands behind him. They gathered around the man " You wish to compete in the arena?" he asks Cloud nods. "well you all can't only up to 3 at a time is allowed" he informs. "Vincent...Barret" Cloud says looking to them "Mmm..." Vincent lets out "Oh yea!" Barret yells making a fist with his metal hand. "You three may go in the rest can watch from the viewing room witch is that way" he says pointing to a door on the wall adjacent to the arena doors. Cloud, Barret and Vincent head in. Everyone else went into the viewing room they all sat down. Alex, Yuffie, and Tifa were in the front. From what Alex could see it was just a cement room. The double doors on one side and a dark door way on the opposite side. Cloud and company enter, his sword in hand, they walk stopping in the center of the room. Alex was curious to watch Cloud in action at modeohiem she didn't get to see him fight. Vincent and Barret stood on the sides of him. He glares at Tifa in the viewing room. She makes a face at him, he shakes his head twirls his sword in his hand above him then holds it out in front. A voice bellows in "First round!" is said. Out come 3 creatures that looked like oversized octopuses "What the?" Alex says "Tentas" Tifa tells her "oh" she says watching. Barret's hand transforms in to a gun, he starts shooting. Vincent shoots the one closest to him. Cloud zips past them both and in one blow kills the tenta, it disappears. Vincent and Barret kill there's not long after Alex's eyes widen. "Round 2!" the voice yells in. Two bigger creatures that looked kind of like Nanaki but blue and much taller enter. Vincent and Barret take on one together shooting in intervals while Cloud charges the other he swings his sword it dodges jumping off the wall, Cloud mimics it. The two of them fly around, he waving his sword just missing it every time "Wow he's fast" Alex says out loud. Now fed up Cloud jumps back to the middle of the room. Sword still in one hand an energy seeps out of the other, it looked like smoke. He holds his hand out, the energy blasts at the creature hitting it directly. "Smart Cloud" Yuffie says "What did he do?" Alex asks "That was time limit it slows enemies down" Yuffie answers, Alex keeps watching. Cloud rushes to it slashing over and over. He stabs it and thrusts his sword upward the creature disappears. Cloud goes over to Vincent and Barret to help them with there's it dies shortly after. "Round 3!" the voice yells. A big dragon like creature races out knocking Barret off his feet. Alex jumps up concerned pressing her hands on the glass. Vincent and Cloud take turns striking it. It growled and snarled trying to catch them in its large jaws swiping with its claws. Cloud jumps to the ground it whips its tail around going straight for him "Cloud!" Alex screams. He holds up his sword shielding him its tail slams against it. Standing there for a minute. He shoves it away and dashes around the other side. Relief comes over Alex "Calm down its gonna take a lot more than that thing ta' do any damage" Cid says "Really?" Alex replies "Yes he can take a hit or " Nanaki says. "Cloud is the strongest and most powerful out ta' all of us he can handle jus' about any thing thrown at 'em don't worry yer' pretty lil' head he'll be fine" Cid assures her. Alex stares at him for a min then looks back out the window. They were still fighting the creature, she closes in on cloud her heart skips a beat she smiles and sits down. The three of them continued round after round each of the opponents were bigger and took longer to kill. Finally, it was the last round they started to look tired a loud roar echoed threw the ground shakes as a huge monster steps in. It stood upright like a man dark purple in color its eyes glowed red horns stuck out of the top of his head. "What the hell is that thing!" Alex screams standing up "A demi" Tifa answers "They've upped the anti" she adds "A demi what's that?" Alex questions "It's very powerful and resistant to a lot of attacks its gonna take all of there strength to defeat this one" Tifa explains. Alex becomes nervous and scared for them. Immediately they flip and jump around shooting and slicing at it. The demi didn't even look like it was phased one bit. Barret shot from the ground, Vincent leaped onto its shoulder shot after shot rang out. Cloud flew threw the air stabbing and slashing away as the demi howled and thrashed it hands. They did this for what seemed like forever. The demi fired energy from its body hitting Vincent and Barret sending them soaring landing near the double doors. Cloud stops and looses focus checking on them the demi takes this opportunity and hits him launching him into the wall dust after impact flies out shrouding him in a fog. Alex runs to the glass trying to glimpse of him "Please be ok" she says in her head. The dusts settles Cloud is standing with both hands on his sword. A greenish yellow energy glowed covering his whole body, the look on his face was of anger. He runs faster than any time before at the demi. "He's gonna use omnislash" Tifa says "Omnislash whats that?" Alex questions looking on "He has several variations its his most effective attacks" Tifa answers, Alex hoped she was right. He jumps into the air, light flashed out with every hit the next more powerful than before. Cloud delivers the final blow pushing off the demi, he does a flip in the air and lands on his feet. The demi reaches for him and collapes it dissolves into thin air. "Yeah!" Yuffie yells "Told ya he'd be alright" Cid says. Alex puts her hand on her chest and closes her eyes "Thank god" she whispers. Outside they waited for Cloud and company to come out. The double doors open, they stroll out "Guys!" Yuffie calls to them, they head over. "You ok?" Tifa asks looking to each of them, Vincent nods "Of coarse I'm fine" Barret answers. Cloud looks at Alex "Yeah" he says. Alex smiles at him then moves her eyes to the floor "What did you win?" Yuffie questionS "Materia" Barret answered. "What?Ii should of competed" she huffs "Yuffie you would of been knocked out in the first round " Nanaki jokes making everyone laugh, Yuffie pouts. "What a day I'm beat" Cid says yawning. Cloud was tired to after that he needed rest. "Lets go to the hotel" Tifa suggests they walk down the steps go threw the same door ways they used to get there ending up right back at the front desk. Down the hall everyone says night to each other and closes there doors behind them. Alex and Cloud were the last of the group. Her room was next to his they both stood at their doors ."Cloud back there...you were incredible" she compliments, Cloud holds back a smile "Nah it was nothing" he says his arm pressed against the doorframe. Alex moves closer to him "Don't sell yourself short you were great were did you learn to fight like that?" she says he puts his head down "It's a long story" he tells her. Alex gets the sense that he doesn't want to talk about it. She steps one foot in her room and turns to him "Well maybe one day you'll tell me" she says. he lifts his head looking at her she half smiles, enters her room, and closes the door "Yeah maybe" he chuckles closing his.

Alex feels her self bounce off her mattress startled she wakes to find Yuffie on her bed. "It's Clouds birthday were going out for breakfast get up!" she yells jumping around her "Alright I'm up" Alex says sitting up she rubs her eyes "I need to shower" Alex tells her walking away from her bed slowly. Tifa comes in from the balcony attached to their room. "Well make it quick" she says. Alex goes threw her bag and takes out a black v neck top and dark green pants that were like the khakis but a bit tighter. She also grabs a black bra and black underwear as well as grooming products and goes into the bathroom. Out of the shower she dresses putting on the v neck she realizes its alittle lower cut than she thought showing a bit of cleavage. But, there's nothing she can do about it these were the only clothes she brought with her. Finishing up, she lets her hair hang to dry but takes a ponytail holder just in case. In the hall, the guys were waiting for the girls to come out "Man they take forever" Barret says tapping his foot on the floor. "What do ya expect there women" Cid says "Honestly" Nanaki says, even he who is always so calm was growing impatient. The girls emerge, Alex is the last one out of the room "Well its 'bout time" Cid says "It's my fault Cid I took a shower" Alex tells him. "I'm hungry lets go!" Yuffie shouts running in front of them, they walk after her. Alex pulls all of her hair to the right side of her head combing it with her fingers. Cloud who was on the left of her turns his head to her at the right time and unintentionally looks down her shirt. His eyes grow big, he clears his throat and quickly looks ahead of him. In the restaurant section again this time they ate at a breakfast place called morning rise. Sometime later while walking around, everyone stopped at an intersection between the shops, booths, and the gaming rooms. "What do you want to do now Cloud?" Tifa asks Cloud scratches his head "Do what you want " he answers "You sure?" she asks "Yeah" he replies "Well then well see ya in a while cloud" Cid says walking away waving. Barret and Nanaki head to the shops area. Vincent goes off on his own. Tifa and Yuffie were deciding what they wanted to do. "Well look who it is!" a man voice yells to them, they all look to see who it is. A man and a woman walk over stopping next to Cloud "Cloud! I never thought I'd see your spike ass back here" the man says to him. He holds out his hand like he's going to arm wrestle him. Cloud connects his hand with the mans for a min then they let go "What the hell are you doing here?" the man asks "Taking a break" cloud answers. The man laughs a little "You take a break?" the man says "Even Cloud needs a break once in a while" Tifa says "Yeah!" Yuffie yelps. "Tifa...Yuffie... good to see you... all you guys here?" the man says "Good to see you to" tifa says "Yup were all here" Yuffie answers. The man sees Alex and holds his hand out to her "And who might you be?" he asks, she puts her hand into his. "Alex" she answers "Well nice to meet you Alex I'm axel and this is Luna" he informs her letting go of her hand pointing to the woman "Nice to meet you" she says. Axel was as tall as Cloud with short brown hair and brown eyes. His clothes were nothing out of the norm just a black jacket, blue shirt, and black pants. Luna however, was very pretty. She had long black hair her eyes were a dark green. The clothes she wore was the like the style in davenport very edgy. Her shirt had many different colors and fabrics sewn in over lapping each other. Her pants were black with red leather going up the sides. Her boots also black they had many zippers crisscrossing around them. "So Cloud are you going to compete in the chocobo races?" Luna asks "Yeah Cloud you should!" Yuffie yells excited "Uh..." he lets out rubbing his shoulder "Come on Cloud you love chocobo racing you should do it" Tifa insists "Come on Cloud for old times sake" Axel pleads Cloud looks at all of them "Alright one race" he commits "Yeah!" Yuffie screams ,Tifa smiles. "Ok lets go register you and pick out your chocobo" Axel says, they follow him. Alex lagged behind for a min confused not knowing what just happened. She catches up walking beside Yuffie "What are chocobos?" she asks "Their birds" Yuffie answers Alex thought it was kind of silly "birds?" she thinks snickering. A few passage ways lead right to the chocobo racing area. In front of them was the registry on the right down a few stairs was where the chocobos were being held. Cloud signs a paper and says bye to Axel and Luna they, leave. The four of them step down to the chocobos. Yuffie runs in front opening a door rushing in, Tifa goes after her. Cloud keeps the door open and lets Alex go first. Huge heads with long feathers sticking out the sides peeked over the tops of stalls, they were bigger than ostriches. Turning to the right Tifa and Yuffie were petting a few of them. Cloud walks past her and starts to pet one in front of them "These are chocobos?" she says loudly, this wasn't what she pictured them to be at all. "Yea a long time ago they were used as transportation now we just race them" Tifa says petting a green chocobos head "Wait you sit on those things?" Alex gasps "Yup! go ahead pet one they like it their very gentle" Yuffie answers. Alex folds her arms and stays by the door "Uh…no I'm good" she says. Cloud looks at Yuffie and Tifa they both smile at him. "Alex your not scared are you?" Tifa questions, Alex backs up a little. "Um…no…no...of coarse not I just prefer to watch" she answers. Cloud turns to her, he could tell she was afraid it was written all over her face. He goes over and pushes her from behind up to the chocobo he was at a minute ago "come on" he says still pushing her. "Cloud stop!" she yells, her feet planted on the floor fighting with him. He gets her close to the chocobo, Yuffie and Tifa laugh watching this. To keep her from running away he stands right behind her "There not going to hurt you" Tifa tells her still laughing. Alex squints looking at it ,its beak was the size of her hand. It's feathers were yellow and it was massive in size. Large wings covered most of its body. Sharp talons could be partially seen from were she stood. Alex has never been face to face with a bird this big she started to shake. Cloud notices this. He takes her hand puts his on top of hers and places it on the chocobo moving it back and forth forcing her to pet it. "See nothing to be scared of" he says, Alex's heart pounded. Cloud holding her hand along with his voice made her feel better "So soft" she says smiling. The chocobo then lets out a loud squawk causing Alex to run and hide behind Cloud, Yuffie and Tifa laugh hard at her. Cloud turns his head and looks down at her a partial smile crept out the corner of his mouth, her hands together she glances up at him and smiles back. "You have some time before your race Cloud lets play some games!" Yuffie yells. He nods and she takes off Tifa not far behind. Alex and Cloud catch up to them in the gaming room Yuffie was already on a machine. Tifa stood next to her Alex wanted to watch, she walks over to them Cloud followed. "What are you playing Yuffie?" she asks Yuffie smashes on some buttons "It's called Yokie you have to get as many points as you can before you die" she informs. Alex leans forward a little to watch it, was a lot like Fooze ball. There were 8 holes that had different numbers on them. using a lever with a button on it you aimed for a hole and shot hoping it would go in. The catch was that you had a time limit. "Awe man" Yuffie lets out. "can I try?" Alex asks Yuffie nods and steps aside. Alex aimed for the highest number on the bored and shot the ball went straight in. Shot after shot Alex was ranking up the numbers, seeing this made their faces drop. Her turn was finally over and she was now the new high score "How the hell did you do that?" Yuffie asks shocked "there's a game a lot like this in my world" she answers. A piece of paper spits out of the machine, she picks it up on it says 1000gps "Gps? What's that?" she asks Yuffie reads with her. "Oh game points you can redeem them for stuff" she says Alex didn't think this would be any use to her "Here Yuffie you can have it" she says handing it to her. Yuffie's eyes light up "Really! Are you sure!" she asks holding it "Yeah its all yours" Alex replies laughing. "All jockeys report to the chocobo races all jockeys report to the chocobo races" is heard "That's me" Cloud says "Go get 'em cloud" Tifa says "beat the crap out of them" Yuffie encourages making a fist "Good luck Cloud" Alex wishes with a smile he nods and leaves. There was no place to watch the races so Yuffie, Tifa and Alex spent the day playing games gathering up gps for Yuffie, witch she later exchanged for some materia. They also did some light shopping. Tifa bought some new gloves, Yuffie just wanted materia, and Alex got a new shirt. It was still a v neck it was tighter and blue but it didnt show as much as the one she had on did. she quickly changed. It was late in the evening the group caught up with each other. Cloud was no were to be found "Were the hell is he?" Barret asks "The last time we saw him he was off to chocobo race we haven't seen him since" Tifa answers "He'll find us lets go eat" Cid says they all walk together, Alex couldn't help but worry a little about him but she also knew he could take care of himself. After dinner, everyone just wanted to relax for the night, tomorrow they were leaving. They all say good night and go into there rooms. Alex almost turning the knob sees Cloud's door is open, she peeks her head in. It was dark she couldn't really see the moon light from outside lit up Cloud's balcony, she opens the sliding glass door. Cloud is hunched over on the railing he hears her come in looking at her "Oh there you are is this were you've been all day?" she asks he nods "Just wanted to be alone" he answers "oh I'm sorry I'll go" she replies putting her hand on the door "It's ok" he says turning his body to her "No I'll go" she says "Alex its ok you can stay" he says, she takes her hand off the knob. He looks back to the horizon. Since the saucer was all lit up nothing but the sky and the ocean off in the distance can be seen. "How did you make out racing?" she asks walking to the railing a few feet from him "I won" he answers "You did? What did you win?" she asks. He reaches into his pack and pulls out materia, it was light blue. "It's called water serpent its a summoning materia" he informs putting it away "Summoning?" she says "Yeah its a special kind of materia it has a power within that you summon to help you fight" he explains "Oh" she says griping the railing. Her eyes go to him "Can I ask you something?" she questions "sure" he says. "How do you get your hair to stand up like that?" she asks his brows shift downward looking at her "It's always been like this" he says holding back a laugh "Really? Does it ever get flat?" she continues, he shakes his head. "Not even if it gets wet?" she kept on "Not really" he answers "Cool" she says, it becomes silent. Alex taps her fingers on the railing. "When you have your visions does it hurt?" he asks. Alex looks over at him he does the same "Sometimes it depends on what I see why?" she replies "It just looks like it does" he states leaving the railing, he leans up against a wall next to the door. "Oh" she says turning to him, more silence. She folds her arms and walks over standing next to him, he still on the wall folds his. "Do you have a last name?" she asks "Strife" he answers "Cloud Strife" she says, he looks at her. "What?" he asks "Oh nothing its just...it suits you" she says looking back at him. His eyes were same as the night they were on the deck of the ship it was the first actual conversation they had together. "You know you have amazing eyes I've never seen ones like yours before there so bright sometimes its like they almost sparkle" she compliments "Have they always been like that?" she adds. He turns away from her "No" he answers. Alex got the feeling he was getting upset she didn't ask anymore about it. "I could say the same thing about yours" he says, she jerks her head to him confused. "Your eyes their different colors I've never seen that before" he adds "I'm impressed not many people notice that" she says "It's easy to see if you look hard enough" he says tilting his head glancing at her. Alex tries not to blush she changes the subject "So did you have fun?" she asks he lets out a sigh "Alex I gotta tell you this isn't really my style" he says " even if it is my birthday" he adds ."At home birthdays are a big deal I feel there should be no exception here" she says, It then dawns on him "So your the culprit who organized all of this" he says one brow lifted. Alex nervously laughs and raises her hand "Guilty" she admits. "So why don't you" she asks getting back to what he said before " I don't have a reason to" he replies "that's not true" she says moving closer to him "You have two reasons your alive and you have people who love and care about you if that's not something to celebrate I don't know what is" she states. He cocks his head to her "I never thought of it that way" he says "Well now that you do did you have fun?" she questions, he pondered for a min "Yeah" he says staring at her. A feeling of accomplishment comes over her then she remembers something "Oh! I almost forgot here" she says. She sticks her hand on her pocket pulls out a black square box and hands it to him. He takes it "What's this?" he asks "Just open it" Alex directs. He takes off the lid, inside is a necklace the pendant was the same as the icon he wore on his shoulder except it was smaller and instead of a ring hanging out of its mouth a blue round jewel sat. Cloud holds it up astonished, he looks at her speechless. "After I learned about your birthday I saw that in a shop in Junon it made me think of you" she says. He takes it out and puts it around his neck. It hung low past the zipper pull tab. He grabs the pendant, looks at it, then at her. He doesn't know what to say he's never been given a gift like this before "Happy birthday Cloud" she says smiling "Thanks" hey says and smiles back. He thought that no one has ever gone to great lengths like she did for him. She barley knew him yet she did everything in her power to make this special. A strange feeling came over him he didn't know exactly what it was but all he knew was that her birthday wish ment the most to him. A yawn comes out of her " well I'm tired you must be exhausted so we should go to bed" she says. Cloud eyes widen at her statement, she looks at him and wonders why he's making that face then she realizes what she said "Oh I mean...you go to your bed in here...and ill go to mine over there not in the same one obviously" she says stumbling over her words, he smiles and chuckles a little. She felt her face turning red she needed to get out of there fast "Night Cloud" she says "Night Alex" he says back. She quickly runs out and makes it to her room. Up agaisnt the door she puts her hand on her forehead "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" she says smacking herself. She climbs onto her bed and hides under the covers.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A few days later during a meeting on the ship, Alex was told that they were going to a city called Wutai. It was were Yuffie was from, she wanted to check in with her father. Since he didn't own a phone going there was the only way to do so. Back in her coverall and grimy, Alex on a ladder, is working on the ventilation system. Taking off one of the vents, she sees a thick layer of dust. "Ew" she says making a stink face sticking her tongue out. She climbs down the ladder, cleans it off, then reattaches it. She repeats this process over and over in the engine room. Now on the last one Alex is unscrewing the vent when Tifa walks in "Hey Alex what are you doing?" she asks stopping near the ladder. "Hi Tifa just cleaning the vents in here and the condition these are in I can only imagine what the others around the ship look like" she answers. "Well I saw you on the ladder and were going to be hitting Wutai soon so I just wanted to make sure you knew that before you continued don't want you hurting yourself" Tifa replies going closer putting her hand on one of the ladder steps. "Don't worry Tifa this is my last one for now" she assures climbing down, she walks over to a trash can were the other vents contents were dumped and wipes off the vent over it. "Well I'm gonna go to the bridge I'll see you in a bit" Tifa says walking out of the room "Ok!" Alex yells going up the ladder. Two screws go in, one foot slips, about to fall off she feels a hand on her lower back stopping her. She looks down, it was Cloud he pushes her back on to the ladder "Thanks that would of sucked" she says, he holds the ladder keeping it steady. "You really need to be more careful I may not be around next time" he says staring at her, she smiled at him. His constant concern for her safety made butterflies in her stomach, she turns back to the vent to finish. "So what's Wutai like?" she asks " It's a big city on its own island" he answers watching her. " What's Yuffie's dad like?" she questions, still holding the ladder he moves closer. "He's been a very good ally to us since he's the leader of Wutai he has a lot of access to things he's been a big help when needed" he informs. The last screw goes in, Alex gets off the ladder "Wait you said he's the leader of Wutai?" she asks Cloud nods. "Then does that means Yuffie's...a princess?" she questions one brow lifted "yeah" he says folding up the ladder, he puts it away. "Heh" she lets out "What?" he asks walking back to her "I just never would of guessed she doesn't act like one" she says laughing "Yuffie doesn't believe in tradition and some of their old ways she makes her own decisions" he says folding his arms. Alex walks over to the bench "What do you believe in Cloud?" she asks, he was jolted by this question. He never gave much thought into what his beliefs were if any he doesn't answer "Come Cloud you must believe in something" she continues, he still didn't have an answer. Instead he redirects "Well what do you believe in?" he asks Alex thinks for a moment. " Chance" she answers he looks at her puzzled "When your given life you have the chance to make it how you wish and want it to be if you go astray life gives you the chance to change it remake it do it over your continuously given the chance to be who you want to be that's what I believe in " she answers. Cloud is thrown back, what she said made sense thinking about it in one way or another he was always given a chance in every situation he was in. Maybe, with out knowing it he believed that to. Alex thought that he didn't know how to answer or maybe he just doesn't have beliefs it didn't make her think any less of him. "Were here! Were here!" Yuffie screams down the hall. Alex could feel the ship lower it rumbles as it lands "Lets go" Cloud says to her, they walk to the bridge together everyone was waiting for them. Stepping outside, the ship was on a hill looking over Wutai. It was like she somehow ended up in medieval china or Japan. Pagodas spread out all over with a very large one in the middle. A river flowed threw the city. Bridges were built on top of it connecting the buildings. Women were in flowered kimonos and the men wore green or white tunics with long flowing pants. To the right of her, figures were carved in a mountain it reminded her of Mount Rushmore from home. Walking threw the city, Alex realized that they were heading straight for the tallest pagoda "Must be like a palace of some sort" she thought remembering that Yuffie is a princess. The people here were very friendly they even knew everyone's names. Crossing over a small bridge they make it to the entrance. Walking in, it was just like old world Asia, incense was lit just beyond the door. Pillows were arranged around a small table with cups and plates already set up. "Alex take off your shoes" Tifa whispered "Geez even that is the same" she says in her head unlacing them. While doing this she saw Cloud with his boots off she thought it was funny because shes never seen him without them, it was the same story with Vincent. Now shoe less, they make way to another room were a tall man stood in robes "Dad!" Yuffie screams running over giving him a hug. "Yuffie my daughter its about time you came to visit me I was starting to worry" he says Yuffie lets go, he walks over to them "It's nice to see you all again its been a while" he greets "How are you?" Tifa asks. The man plays with his long black beard "I cant complain" he answers "Haven't had any problems lately have you?" Cloud asks "Not at all why do you ask?" he questions "We ran into some trouble in Modeoheim we Don't know who they were but they wore red uniforms does this sound familiar?" Cloud replies. The man puts his hands behind him and paces for minute "Red uniforms you say? No I haven't heard anything regarding that ill keep an eye out" he answers he sees Alex and walks over to her. "Well hello there and what is your name?" he asks "My names Alex sir nice to meet you" she greets, she does a slight bow. Everyone even Yuffie looks at her funny. Lifting her head up she sees all there faces and starts to think she just made an ass out of herself. The man lets out a laugh " My goodness I haven't had a formal greeting like that in years and my dear please call me Godo" he says smiling putting his hand on her shoulder. Tifa and Yuffie laugh along with him, Cloud glances at her and smiles. A servant appears with a steaming tea pot in hand "Ahh just in time please wont you all join me" he invites. Tifa, Yuffie, Alex, and Cloud all sit at the table she saw when she walked in. Cid was out on the what Alex labeled the "porch" smoking. Vincent and Barret stood not to far away Nanaki sat next to Godo. "So I trust my daughter is behaving herself?" Godo says as the server pours from the teapot into his cup. "Come on dad" Yuffie says rolling her eyes "Yuffie you are the future leader of this city you must act accordingly" he says while sipping. The server walks around to everyone they all refuse but Alex accepts. He pours a green liquid into her cup she looks at him and bows her head, he surprised smiles bows back and leaves. She picks up the cup sips a bit of it and smiles "Oh green tea" she says Godo turns her head to her "You know of green tea?" he asks. "Yea I used to drink it all the time I haven't had it in a while" she replies gulping more. "So tell me about yourself Alex" he asks. Alex kneeling, adjusts her legs one of them was falling asleep. "Well...I'm an engineer" she informs him. "A damn good one to!" Yuffie shouts Alex giggles and scratches her head "Thanks Yuffie" she says smiling, she downs the rest of her tea. "Where are you from?" he asks. Everyone was nervous of what her response would be. "Davenport" she answers, it was the only place she could say. A few sighs rang out "Davenport? I've never been there heard its a great place to visit" he says drinking his tea "Yea you should go sometime" she says "I wish I could my dear but a leader never leaves his post" he replies "Even leaders need vacations your only human your people should understand that" she says. Godo stares at Alex and puts his cup down the look on his face concerned the group they feared that Alex may have offended him, it was the last thing they wanted. Godo smiles and laughs "Were ever did you find this woman? She is simply delightful!" he loudly says " What a breath of fresh air my dear your welcome here anytime" he adds "Thank you" she says smiling. The group was amazed that he liked her so much just in their first meeting. "Well I wish I could continue but I have important affairs to get to please everyone stay as long as you like my home is yours" Godo says standing, they thank him as he leaves. Getting up, Alex goes over to the 'porch' area were Cid was he was on his second cigerette. she could see the mountain in the distance with all the carvings, Yuffie and Tifa stand on either side of her. "Isn't this place great?" yuffie yells smiling "Yea" Alex laughs. Looking around, a tea shop sat next to a restaurant. A hotel was a lil further down the river. Cherry blossom trees were in full bloom, the pedals fell off the branches in the wind. Women all dressed up were gathered in the front of the hotel and on a few of the balconies. "Who are they?" Alex asks Tifa and Yuffie look with her "Oh those are the geisha's they run the hotel they sometimes come and perform here" Yuffie answers "Perform what?" alex questions " Mostly dances sometimes the whole city is invited other times its just for my dad" Yuffie replies. Alex shudders at the last part she said she knew what the ment. "Come on!" Yuffie shouts pulling Alex's arm, all threeof them run past the boys and put there shoes on. "Were are you guys off to?" Nanaki asks ,they all stare at them "Were gonna show Alex around well be back later" Yuffie says. Cloud walks up to Tifa and Yuffie, Alex is still putting on her shoes "You keep an eye on her you hear me?" he orders "Oh Cloud" Yuffie says laughing "I mean it Yuffie" he replies "Relax shell be with us" Yuffie says "That's what I'm afraid of" he says staring at her. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" she shouts at him Tifa grabs her "Don't worry Cloud shell be fine we promise" Tifa assures him. Alex finishes tying, Tifa and Yuffie run off, Alex goes after them catching up. They ran all over the place making Alex feel like a kid again. The people here were so kind and generous offering things from their homes and stores. Alex wondered if this was just the way they were or if it was because Yuffie was Godos daughter. Yuffie didn't take any of it she explained that accepting free things all the time would make the gods angry "Gods?" alex says "yea" she replies pointing to the mountain "Da Chao they are our gods" Yuffie explains. Alex was surprised that even here a god was present in one way or another. Walking across one of the bridges, Alex stops and rests her head and arms on the railing. Fish swam quickly around in circles going after the bugs that landed on surface. It was so quiet and peaceful here. All the other towns and cities had cars and people walking all around rushing from place to place but it wasnt like that here. Everything was slowed down no wonder Godo didn't want to leave. "Yuffie!" is heard from the other end of the bridge. Turning her head, a woman in the same attire as the geishas runs over to Yuffie hugging her, Tifa is standing with them. "Tifa its good to see you again" the woman says giving Tifa a hug "It's been so long are all of you here?" the woman asks "yup the boys are at dads" Yuffie tells her. Alex walks over to them the woman sees her "Oh hello" she greets Alex smiles "hi" she says "Suni this is Alex she's new Alex this is Suni" Yuffie introduces "Very nice to meet you" Suni says "You to" Alex replies. "Come we have a lot to catch up on you can come to Alex" Suni invites waving them on heading for the hotel. Alex was a lil sketchy about going there remembering what Yuffie said about 'performing' for her dad. a bad mental image went threw her mind she shook her head to get it out. taking their shoes off once ace again they go inside and climb a few sets of stairs going to the top floor. The women around them were either cleaning or cooking. Suni lead them to a huge room with a clear view of most of the city and the palace. In the middle of the room was a large table and pillows arranged around in a circle it was the same kind of set up as Godos. "Please sit I'll be right back" Suni says as she leaves they all sat and waited. "So Yuffie how do you know her?" Alex asks "We've been friends since we were little" Yuffie answers. Suni then returns and sits next to Tifa "Everything will be ready in a moment now tell me what have you all been up to?" Suni asks them. "Oh nothing much a lot of traveling" Tifa answers "It's never boring though!" Yuffie lets out. Suni turns her attention to Alex "So how did you come to join them?" she asks. Before Alex could answer, eight women came into the room holding tea and plates of food they set it all down in front of them, it all smelled great and looked delicious. "Please enjoy it's on me I wont take no for a answer" Suni says. She looks at the other women "Thank you all you can stay if you like" she offers. They all sit filling in the left over spaces at the table. Yuffie gobbles up plate after plate, Tifa takes her time, Alex wasn't really hungry, she only ate a small amount mostly drinking tea. "So Alex how did you come across them?" Suni asks again " I fixed their ship then they asked me to stay" Alex answers "Yea but after you almost died falling out of a tree" Yuffie says muffled from food in her mouth. Suni's expression changes "Really?" she asks, Alex nods. "It was Cloud's fault she was at the top of the tree he yelled up scaring her causing her to fall" Yuffie adds chomping on some bread. Giggles came out from the woman some had fans covering their faces, Alex wasn't sure why they were laughing. "You weren't badly hurt were you?" Suni continues Alex eats a lil off her plate "Not to bad" she answers "Not bad are you kidding? You were bleeding from your head Cloud put a cloth on clotting it cuz you couldn't see at the time" Yuffie says this time it was a lil less muffled. More giggles echoed out Suni smiled at them all "What is it?" Alex asks "The girls like it when the men come to visit Godo" she informs "Especially Cloud" one of the women says, more giggles come out of them. Alex now wonders about this. Suni laughs with them, she sees the confused look on Alex's face " The boys when they come here stay at the hotel somtimes the girls get excited when they do" Suni explains. Alex nods taking a sip of her tea "They perform for them" Tifa says, Alex almost spits out her tea she covers her mouth stopping herself from doing it. She looks at all the woman "What do you mean by perform?" she asks, she was worried about the answer. She didn't think Cloud was that kind of guy but she had to know "They entertain them" Suni answers "How exactly?" Alex continues she wanted a straight forward answer. Suni sips her tea "How ever they wish" Suni replies. Alex is appalled a nasty taste develops in her mouth she tries to wash it out with tea it, doesn't work. The thought of Cloud being with all of these women disgusted her she didn't want to sit with them anymore, she was about to get up. "But Vincent and Cloud never want company it makes us sad" a woman lets out, Alex stays. " What do you mean?" she asks "They decline when we offer" one woman answers. Alex starts to get excited "So your telling me that Cloud and Vincent don't...you know...do that?" she asks "No never we wish they would Vincent is so quiet and mysterious I've always wanted to see what's underneath" a woman answers, a few other women let out giggles. "Cloud with those blue eyes of his makes us weak in the knees" is heard, sighs follow after. Alex smiles a little hearing this she was happy to know that he wasn't a pig he was a gentlemen and respectful to women even when they try to get into his pants. "Thank god" she says in her head. A woman is blue walks over with a wooden box and sits next to Alex. "Hi I'm Kina" she greets, Alex thinks this is strange "Hi" she nervously says. "You have beautiful skin do you ever wear make up?" Kina asks "Uh no I'm not really a make up kind of girl" she answers "You should because your complexion is flawless" kina compliments. Alex scratches her right arm "Um thanks but I've never really been into that" she says "Come on Alex you should try it" Tifa insists. "Why?" Alex asks "Because you might like it and besides dressing up is fun" Tifa says "If its so much fun why don't you do it?" Alex replies "I can't I'm allergic to make up" Tifa informs "Figures" Alex thinks. She then turns to Yuffie "Oh no don't look at me" Yuffie says putting her hands up. Alex rolls her eyes "Ok fine do it" she accepts. Kina immediately goes to work. She puts on pink eye shadow with a glimmering white just at the brow and at the corners of her eyes, black eyeliner and mascara follow. She brushes on foundation then a very light pink gloss is pressed on her lips. Tifa and Yuffie can't see what Kina is doing they wait for the results. Another woman comes over and does Alex's hair. she sleeks it back then makes it into a side bun. "All done!" Kina shouts, Alex turns her head to them "Wow" Yuffie says "What?" Alex asks "You look stunning" Tifa says. Kina hands her a mirror, Alex looks into it she doesn't even recognize herself "Woah that's me?" she asks. Kina puts all of her makeup away, Tifa and Yuffie look in the mirror with her. "Yup! You look beautiful" Yuffie says smiling. Alex was speechless she never thought looking like this was possible for her yet here it was, it was a lot to take in. "Hey you should go out like this" Yuffie says "Ya you should Alex" Tifa agrees."You can't be all made up and wear that I have something for you to wear" Suni says running out of the room. "Uh" Alex cant get words to come out everything was happening so fast. Suni rushes back with a pink silk dress, it had a small high collar and short sleeves with a slit on one side and white flowers all over it. "That's perfect!" Yuffie screams, Tifa takes her by the arms and forces her up walking her over to the dress. "Hold on wait a second!" she yells everyone stops. "I agreed to make up not this" she says pointing to the dress, Yuffie gets angry "Come on party poop for once be a girl" she says. Alex makes a face at her "Says the one who refused make up" she says, the women giggle. Yuffie sticks her tongue out at her. "Alex just try it on" Tifa says, Alex throws her arms up "Fine!" she gives in. They take all of her clothes and slip the dress on her, it fit like it was ment for her. "You look phenomenal" kina says her mouth hanging open "Really?" Alex asks "Defiantly" Tifa answers "Lets go out you need to show yourself off!" Yuffie shouts, Alex puts her hand on her face "Oh geez could we not?" Alex pleads. She was always uncomfortable with people staring at her now looking like this it would just make it worse. "Oh come on you baby" Yuffie orders pulling her down the stairs, they all follow to the entrance. "I cant go out like this I don't even have the right shoes" Alex says hoping this would get her off the hook "Here take these" Suni says holding black dressy sandals. Alex glares at her and snatches them out of her hand "Thanks" she says putting them on. "Great lets go!" Yuffie yells pulling Alex, Tifa follows behind. Walking back to the palace people as they past by would stop what they were doing and stare. Alex kept looking forward "This is what I was talking about" she whispers "Oh hush you look great" Yuffie whispers back. They make it to the palace, Godo was in the tea room "Ah you girls are back" Godo says he gives Yuffie a hug he sees Alex and blinks a few times. "My my look at you your breathe taking" he compliments, taking her hands Alex gulps and smiles "Thank you" she says " I know huh?" Yuffie asks rubbing Alex's shoulders. The boys voices echo threw from another room they appear around a corner stopping at Godo "There you all are we were wondering where you ran off to" Nanaki says walking over to Tifa. He sees part of the pink dress he, lifts his head up to Alex "Oh my goodness Alex is that you?" he shouts "Yup hi guys" she answers. one by one the men look at her shocked even Vincent was surprised, Cloud's face completely drops. "Well now" Cid says with a whistle "You look amazing" Nanaki says. Alex thinks her face must be the same color as the dress. Cloud doesn't know what to say he just keeps staring at her. A server comes in "Alright everyone come along" Aodo invites. He leads them all to a room with individual tables and pillows set up in a L shape "please sit" Godo instructs, Alex sat on one end Cloud sat at the other. Godo took his place in the middle facing them all. Other servers came out with food and tea. Alex's stomach turned she really didn't want to eat anymore, she decides to pace herself. Everyone talked and laughed for hours it was beginning to get dark out. Cloud didn't say much all he really did was stare at Alex the whole time. He couldn't help it no matter how hard he tried his eyes always shifted back to her. Alex needed a break plus, the way she was sitting her legs were cramping up "Excuse me" she says to Godo. She gets up and leaves the room. Cloud sneaks out after her. She walks down a hall arms folded glancing over some art work and statues scattered around. She comes to an opening over looking a garden, a cherry blossom tree sat in the middle of it. She leans on the railing that separated her from it. Cloud finds her ,he puts his body up against the wall watching her. Alex doesn't notice him she piers out into the garden then up to the sky. The sun didn't set yet pink, purple, and orange were its colors instead of blue. She gets the feeling she's being watched she jerks her head over "Whose there?" she asks. Foot steps are heard coming to her, Cloud emerges from the shadows "Nothing gets past you does it?" he asks "Oh hey Cloud" she greets smiling. He walks over to her "Why are you out here by yourself?" he questions hunching over on the railing next to her. "Just needed some air and to stretch my legs" she answers "Oh" he says looking over at her. "So what's with this?" he asks, Alex turns to him "What?" she says "This" he answers pointing to her dress. "Oh I was mauled by the geishas couldn't be helped I was out numbered" she laughs he chuckles with her. "Yea I hear you their ruthless" he jokes making her laugh more. Her smile lit up her face. Even though she's has smiled many times before, to Cloud this time it was different. It wasn't just her smile it was her eyes to they were brighter more vibrant. "Why does it look bad?" she asks, he glances over to her and smiles "No" he says she turns back to the garden. "You don't need it though" he compliments. She looks at him her eyes hold his "Thanks" she says, he leans in closer "no problem" he whispers. She turns away and giggles, Cloud opened his mouth to say more but the group found them. "There you guys are we wondered were you went!" Yuffie says running over to them "Hey" he says, Alex just smiles. "Yeh ready ta' go?" Cid asks, Cloud nods. "I'm gonna change and wash this stuff off" Alex says walking around them "I'll get your clothes from the hotel" Yuffie offers, she runs off. "Thanks Yuffie" she says continuing on finding a bathroom just down another hall. Tifa turns to Cloud and makes a face "What?" he asks, Tifa smiles "nothing" she says. Alex now back to normal, they say their good byes to Godo and fly off.

After a few days in the air, the electrical system was on the frits they had to land. Cid managed to put the ship on the only dirt spot of a whole field witch Alex thought was just great. Grease, grime, and even rust have been her friends now dirt was making a visit. The schematics showed that there were fuse boxes outside the ship on the top and bottom. She decided to do the top one first but she couldn't climb up to get to it. The area it was in was steep she couldn't come from the propellers she would just slide off she had to get on from the front. She asked Barret for help, he was the biggest out of the group. He picked her up and placed her on the ship. "Thanks Barret!" she yells to him "Your welcome ya need me to stay?" he asks, he can hear her taking the panel to the fuse box off. "No I'm going to be here a while I'll call for you when I'm done" she says "Alright" he replies walking back into the ship. Alex remained there part of the day checking every last wire. She would hear them all walking around the ship and talking, for fun she popped up scaring Yuffie. Yuffie wasn't amused she threw a rock at Alex nearly hitting her. Not finding a problem with this fuse box Alex needed to get down to check the other one. "Barret!" she yelled, no answer " Barret!" she yelled louder, he didn't come. "Oh what the hell" she says, she looks over the edge to make sure no one was around and drops her tools down. She studied the area were she was planning to jump down but hesitated if she rushed she could break a leg. She sees the top of Vincent's head coming out of the ship "Vincent!" she calls to him, he turns his head around then looks up at Alex. "Hi can you get Barret for me please? I cant get down" she politely says to him, he nods his head and goes to find him. Barret comes out a few minutes later, he picks her up from under her arms and places her on the ground "Thanks Barret" she says picking up her tools. "Sure Alex anytime" he says going back into the ship. She crawls under to the other fuse box and gets to work. Hours later, the cargo ramp comes down Cloud wheels out his bike. He's about to get on it, when he sees feet sticking out from under the ship. He laughs a lil walking over, he kicks one foot ."What!" she says aggravated "Someone having a bad day?" she hears, the voice made her eyes grow big. She inches out and sits up."Hey Cloud" she greets he crouches down to her "Hey have you been under here all day?" he asks "No actually I was up top earlier" she says patting off dirt from her coverall. "Did you find the problem yet?" he questions "No not yet I will" she confidently says. "Why don't you take a break? You've been at this for hours" he says. Alex nods and stands up wiping the rest of herself off. She sees his bike in front of her "Going for a ride I see?" she assumes walking over to it "Yea haven't done it in a while" he replies. She touches one of the handle bars " Well I wont keep you I need to get back to work any ways have fun" she says walking back to the ship. He sits on the bike and turns it on then he has a thought "Alex" he calls to her,she turns to him "Yea?" she answers. He throws something to her she catches it and examines it. They were goggles, she looks up at him confused "Hop on" he tells her motioning with his head. She blinks a few times "Are you serious?" she asks dumbfounded, he smiles a lil and nods. Excited she jumps on putting the goggles over her eyes "Hang on" he says while revving the engine. Alex didn't hear him "What?" she asks, he speeds off causing her to fly into his back. Startled, she closes her eyes and wraps her arms around him. He glances down, sees her hands on his stomach, and smirks looking in front of him. Alex opens her eyes she makes a face she had feeling he did that on purpose. She lifts her head a lil and watched as they flew threw the plains. Birds took off as they passed hills in front of them started to immerge. She looks at Cloud "Even his hair doesnt move much in the wind" she giggled then she focused on the rest of him. She could clearly feel his abs he was pure solid muscle, she scrunches her nose smiling. He takes them a lil further then stops. She leaves the goggles on the bike gets off of it and walks a lil. She doesn't know why but for some reason he stopped at a beach, she turns back to him. "Why are we here?" she asks him he jumps off puts the kickstand down and stands next to her "I always find you staring up at the sky I figure what better place then the beach to look at it" he answers turning to her she looks up at him half smiling he walks on she stayed in the same spot for a min "Hmmm" she thought he glances back at her "You coming?" he asks she catches up with him they stroll up and down the beach together talking her mostly about home. They end up back at the bike she sits in the sand he sat down with her there was still a few more hours till dusk she thought now was the time ask him what she's been wanting to know "So Cloud what did you do before avalanche?" she asks he puts his head down staring at the sand Alex looked at him for a while she gave up on him answering and turns watching the waves as they came in "I worked for a company" he says Alex jerks back to him "What kind of company?" she asks he takes a deep breathe "An electric power company called Shinra" he answers Alex then remembers the metal plate in Corel, the symbol on the document in Junon, it started to come together "Are they the ones that built the reactors?" she questions he nods "So that's how you know so much about them" she adds, he nods again "They used coal for their power for years then found a way to harness energy from the life stream after a while they built their own army and started taking over other cities and towns while slowly killing the planet" he says "Geez" she lets out "That's not all" he adds "Many years before they were digging some were in the planet and found something they called Jenova they hired scientists to study her they took some blood and found out her cells had unique qualities they did experiments on humans injecting her cells into them it increased their strength, stamina, and healing ability it also gave greater tolerance to pain when injured mako was added later into the mix for better results this was used to make Shinra's army they called them soldier." he continued. "What did they look like when they were done? This obviously altered their appearance some how" she asked "They would come out the same the only difference was the eyes the trade mark was sky blue that's how they were distinguished a very select few ended up with green or the color never changed at all but for the most part blue was the color they became" he explained. Alex realizes that his eyes are that color blue "You were one of them weren't you?" she asks he shakes his head "No I was an infantry man I wanted to be in soldier but never made it" he answers "How come? Your an awesome fighter how could they reject you?" she questions " thanks but I wasn't before" he says. she remembers something from a previous conversation she had with him "You said your eyes didn't always look like that what did you mean?" she asks he props both arms on his knees. "I was with a friend of mine his name was Zack he was in soldier we were both injured I was pretty bad the last thing I remember from that day was passing out next to him I slowly started to come to I couldn't move or talk but I could hear him he said that they put us in tubes filled with mako witch gave me mako poisoning when that happens it puts you in a catatonic state he also found out that they injected Jenova cells into me and that 4 years had passed since then" he tells her "how old were you when they put you in there?" she asks "16" he half whispers "Were is Zack now?" she questioned he pauses and looks out at the horizon "he died not long after he got me out of there" he answers Alex's heart begins to ache for him not only did he loose his mom he was also locked away and experimented on against his will and threw all of this he also lost his friend she now understood why he and the others didn't want to talk about it. "I'm so sorry cloud that must of been awful" she consoles putting her hand on his shoulder he turns his head to her "Don't be it all worked out in the end" he says they stared at each other for what seemed like forever at this point it was like words weren't needed. She now knew who Cloud was his past was irrelevant despite how bad it was for him it molded him into the man he is now and that's all she cared about.

Multiple laughter now echoed around them most of it was coming from a hill not far from were they sat men poured out from behind it. Cloud quickly stands, Alex follows she couldn't tell how many of them there were some of them still laughing with big grins on there faces "I'm sorry are we interrupting something?". A short man with dark brown hair asks Cloud scans them over "No we were just leaving" he says he holds his arm out an steps back making Alex do the same. "Aww so soon? We were hoping to join in and have some fun what do ya say?" the man asks "No thanks" he says trying to walk with Alex to the bike "how about if i say you have no choice in the matter?" the man says. The other men start to circle around them cloud realizes they aren't gonna let them go "What do you want?" Cloud asks him the man laughs "It's not what I want its what he wants" he answers smiling cloud doesn't know what he means by this and the fact that they were surround worried him he knows that they aren't just going to let them walk away but the problem was his swords were in his bike. Alex stares at the men around them carrying weapons they had the same type of clothes on. All with either a black or white circle with the letter C in the middle of it. She clings to cloud gripping his shirt "Cloud?" she says "Alex when I tell you to run" Cloud whispers he looks back at the man. "Well?" the man says "Alex go!" Cloud yells she lets go of him and runs as fast as she can. Cloud jumps over them all and lands near his bike he opens the compartments grabs a few swords and leaps back. The sand was making it hard for her get away she can hear Cloud's sword make noises as he fought them. One of the men was chasing after her, not paying attention she trips over a rock and lands on the ground catching up to her. He goes to pick her up, she throws sand in his eyes, he lets go. She gets up to continue running but he grabs her foot making her fall, she kicks him, he takes hold of her other foot and pulls her to him, he puts his arm around her stomach carrying her back "let me go!" she screams punching and trying to push off of him. He takes her over to the man who was talking to them before. Cloud was slashing and cutting, the men dropped one by one. Thinking she wasn't going any were the man holding Alex drops her and goes to help in the fight. Alex tries to make a run for it but the short man grabs her. Finishing them off Cloud jumps after him, the man sees Cloud coming and puts Alex in front of him up against the hill holding her with one hand by her throat. Cloud lunging for him, sees Alex and stops just in front of them one sword pointed at his face. The man with the same hand on Alex puts up one finger and wiggles it back and forth while shaking his head "Uh uh you wouldn't want to accidentally kill her would you?" he says. Cloud glares at him the man grabs Alex face with the same hand "well isn't she a pretty one I can see why you fought back" he says smiling, his hand moves down her neck she can feel his fingers down her shirt. She tries to wriggle free, Cloud gets angry and grits his teethe "Stop it!" Cloud yells at him he grabs hold of her neck again "Oh I see I struck a nerve" he says Alex gets that feeling again she can't see what's going on or hear them any more her. Breathing isn't as bad this time she can see herself. Still being held by the man she can hear them talking. Cloud tells him to let her go the man says I don't think so. A second later, the man using his other hand pulls out a gun and shoots Cloud. He drops to the ground bleeding. She sees herself screaming for him. He gets up and runs at him the man shoots him a few more times before Cloud stays down. The man grabs her and pushes her face first on the hill, she sees him starting to rip off her clothes. She tries to fight back still screaming, Cloud cant get up all he can do is watch. She can hear and see around her again, the man and Cloud didn't notice this they were to busy arguing."Let her go!" Cloud demands, Alex knows what's coming next she wasn't going to let it happen. "I don't think so" the man answers, she can feel him raise his gun "No!" she screams grabbing his arm pointing it away from him. The gun goes off and grazes Cloud's left arm. "Alex get down!" Cloud screams, she ducks, Cloud thrusts his sword into the man. He spits out blood, yanking his sword out the man drops deing in the sand. Cloud walks over to Alex, he kneels next to her. "You ok?" he asks panting "Yea" she answers and sees blood on his arm "Your hurt" she says he looks at it "Eh its nothing I've had worse" he tells her she closes her eyes and hangs her head. "Let's get out of here" he says standing, she doesn't get up. He bends down and lifts her up by her arms. He walks her over to the bike while he put his swords away, she sits and puts the goggles on. Throwing one leg over he turns it on and drives off. The whole ride back she held on to him he could feel how tight her grip was. Parking next to the ship Cloud gets off and stands next to her she doesn't say anything for a moment "I'm gonna go inside" she says walking threw the entrance. cloud can tell she's traumatized by this he wanted to follow her and make sure she's ok but he got the feeling she wanted to be alone. he puts the bike away and goes to the bridge. Alex in her room grabs a jacket and heads for the deck she passes by Nanaki "Ello Alex" he greets, she doesn't say anything. she turns right for the deck and steps out on to it. everyone else was in the bridge when cloud enters Tifa immediately sees the cut on his arm "What happened!" she yells running over to him he tries to walk away and not answer she puts her hands on his chest stopping him "Cloud say something!" she screams the rest of the group was now listening Nanaki walks in. "We were attacked" he answers "Attacked?" she says "Yea there was a lot of them I took care of it" he says "Wait we?" Cid asks "Alex was with me" he answers. The group now becomes concerned "were is she?" Tifa shouts "She's here I don't know were though" he answers Yuffie and Tifa run to find her. "who was it that attacked you?" Nanaki questions "I don't know" Cloud answers "What the hell were they after?" Cid asks Cloud had a feeling "Her" he says.

Alex sat on the seat her knees on her forehead, eyes closed, her arms under her thighs. Her mind was blank it sank in that they were almost killed just now. The deck door flies open "Alex!" is screamed. She looks, up Yuffie and Tifa stand next to her. "Are you ok?" Tifa asks "I'm fine" Alex muffles "Are you sure?" Yuffie asks "You could be hurt and not know it" Tifa adds "yea let us look you over" Yuffie insists pulling on her jacket. Alex shoots up "I'm fine! stop asking me I don't want to talk about it please just leave me alone!" she screams going over to the railing they both stare at her they know she's not fine its obvious she's upset "Please go away!" she yells they leave and go to the bridge. cloud is bandaging up his arm Tifa and Yuffie come back in "Did you find her?" Barret asks "Yea she's on the deck she wont talk to us I've never seen her like this before I'm worried about her" Tifa answers looking at cloud. he finishes up "ill go talk to her" he says walking out Alex now has her head on the railing she can feel the wind blowing on her. Cloud opens the door and sees her standing there he walks over "Hey" he says, she looks up at him. "Hi" she says back "Are you alright" he asks, she squints her eyes and shakes her head he leans on the railing with her. "Why did that happen?" she asks "I don't know" he answers he can see the pain she was in he felt bad. "Alex talk to me tell me what your thinking" he says to her she doesn't answer "Come on Alex it's me" he continues she stays silent "I saw" she lets out, he looks at her. "You saw what?" he asks "When that man had me I had an episode I saw him shoot you" she informs him she's now holding back her tears "I saw what he was gonna to do me if I didn't stop him he was gonna make you watch" she quivers. He knows now that there is more to what he originally thought was wrong. He can see she's trying not to cry "Alex" he says grabbing her arm "No" she tells him trying to walk away "Alex come here" he says pulling her to him "No" she continues to fight with him. He manages to get one arm around her, she gives in, both his arms now on her, she grabs his shirt and buries her face in his chest. Tears streamed down her cheeks, he could hear her sobbing. She wasn't just crying over this it was everything she didn't let her self cry for, she was finally letting it all out. "I was so scared" she says, he rests his cheek on her head "It's ok" he comforts. She continues to cry "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you I promise" he says holding her tighter. "Cloud?" he hears her muffle "Yea?" he says "Your suffocating me" she replies "Oh" he says letting go, her head pops up. "Geez you did all work to save me only for you to smother me to death" she says laughing, he laughs with her "That's better" he says to her "What?" she asks "You smiling" he says wiping her eyes. She can feel her self blushing, he puts his hand on her head and rubs messing up her hair. "Hey!" she says pushing him " I cant do that to you yours has a mind of its own" she jokes, he laughs. Alex glances at him, he does the same "You should do that more often" she says to him "What?" he asks "Laugh you look better when you do" she compliments he smiles "Come on" he says, they both go inside.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

They make it back to the bridge and stood just beyond the door way, everyone sat waiting Tifa was pacing biting her nails Yuffie sees them "Alex!" she yells running over to them "Hey" she says "Are you ok now?" Yuffie asks, Alex looks down in to her eyes and then over at Cloud "Yea I will be" she answers smiling at him. He goes to the 'meeting' area and stands next to Cid who was sitting on one of the chairs. Nanaki walks and sits a few feet in front of Alex "So what happened?" he asks her she didn't know how to begin to answer. "We took a ride to the coast we weren't there long before we were attacked" Cloud says, heads turn at each other. "You both went to the coast...alone?" Tifa asks one brow up, her eyes flickering from Alex to Cloud and back. "Uh" Alex lets out embarrassed. "Yea so?" Cloud says "Well its not like you to take someone for a ride on fenrir" Tifa answers, Cloud folds his arms "Oh really?" he says, Tifa walks over to him and makes a face. "Cloud I've known you since you were a kid I know how you are you can be stubborn and arrogant sometimes your quiet and like to be alone" Tifa says. "I second that" Yuffie says holding up her hand "Me third" Cid says hand raised. Cloud glares at them "So what I wonder has changed?" she asks walking to Alex, she stands in front of her then looks back at Cloud. He shakes his head and sighs, Alex could tell in his expression that this was frustrating him just hearing it made her uncomfortable, a light bulb goes on in here head. "I was listening to the engine" she blurts out, all eyes go to her. "I was working on the fuse box under the ship and Cloud came outside when he turned the bike on I thought it sounded funny so I mentioned it and he had me go with him" she adds, Tifa folds her arms. "So what was wrong with it?" she asks, Alex hadn't thought that far she was hoping that at least would of worked on Tifa. She looks at Cloud, a tiny smile formed he knew she was trying to divert the attention away from him "When we stopped I told him that one of the cylinders may have rust on it we were about to head back when those men showed up" she adds, Tifa turns to Cloud. "Why didn't you just say that before?" she asks him "Does it matter?" he answers.

Vincent is now fed up he doesn't want to listen to this any more. "Can we get back to the issue at hand please?" he asks, "I second that" Barret says "me third" Nanaki mumbles. "Right well did any of em' say anything' ta' ya?" Cid asks, Cloud walks to the middle of the 'meeting' area hand on his chin, he stops and lifts his head up. "When I asked what they wanted one of them said it not what we want its what he wants" he replies. "What da' hell does that mean?" Barret asks, everyone was just as confused. "I don't know... them being there was no coincidence" he answers. "So you think it was planned?" Nanaki asks, "Yea I do" he responds. "But I don't get it what reason would they have?" Tifa asks. Cid asked him the same type of question earlier. "I think they were after Alex" he replies looking at her. Alex is shocked by Cloud's speculation. "Why me?" she says, "I don't know but it makes sense if they wanted us dead they would of attacked both of us instead they went after me like I was in the way of there objective they had many opportunities to kill you but they didn't take any them it leads me to believe that they were sent out to collect you" he answers. Alex needed to sit down after what she just went threw and now hearing this made her heart jump into her throat. "But why? I haven't done anything" she says sitting on the floor, "If Cloud is right that's what we need to find out" Vincent answers walking over to her. She closes her eyes and rubs her temples trying to process all of this. "It just figures doesn't it" she groans, "don't worry Alex" Nanaki says, she continues rubbing her face. "That's easy for you to say your not the one they want" she says. Vincent crouches down and grabs her wrist, she jerks her head to him "Now is not the time to panic you need to be strong were not going to let them have you but we can't do all the work you need help us to help yourself and fight back" he encourages. Alex is surprised at Vincent even though he has been nicer to her she didn't think he cared about her. But he was right instead of cowering she needed to prepare for whatever was next. "Thanks Vincent" she says smiling, he nods and stands up.

Cloud's phone then begins to ring, he reaches into his pack and answers it. "Cloud here" he says, Alex can't make out the voice on the other end. "We'll be there as soon as we can" he says hanging up, he puts it back in his pack. "Who was that?" Tifa asks, "Morgana she has some information for us we need to get there as soon as possible" he answers. "But ta' ship isn't fixed yet" Cid says, Alex gets up "I'm on it" she says walking out. "But it's dark out now how ya gonna see?" Cid asks, "I'll go with you!" Yuffie offers. "Thanks Yuffie go to the engine room grab a light and meet me outside" she orders, "Got it!" Yuffie says running down the hall.

Back at the fuse box, Yuffie had to lay underneath with Alex the light wouldn't reach other wise. Yuffie was on her back next to her watching her work "Do you know witch wire is witch? And what it's for just by looking at them?" she asks. Alex notices a few ports the wires connect to are loose she uses a screw driver tightening them. "Yeah all of these wires are for the engine room the ones up top are for the propellers and the controls in the bridge" she informs. "That's weird why aren't these in the engine room then?" Yuffie questions, Alex finds the problem one of the ports was so loose the wire that connected to it was coming out. "The engine when running creates moister in the air if the fuse box was in there condensation would gather on them and short circuit everything not something you want to happen in flight" she explains. "But what about rain? Wouldn't they get wet from that them being outside?" Yuffie continues, "No the panels that cover them have a special seal that keeps everything out" she replies, "You really know your stuff" Yuffie laughs, Alex smiles "It's what I do" she says. Yuffie then get serious "Did it scare you?" she questions, Alex looks at her "What?" she asks, "When they went after you were you scared?" she replies, Alex nods and continues working. "Well at least Cloud was with you" she says "Yeah" Alex whispers smiling. "All done" she says putting the panel on, they both slide out. Yuffie helps gather her tools and races back into the ship. Cid was at the helm waiting. "Ok were good" Alex announces passing by, the ship roars as it turns on. Yuffie places everything on the bench in the engine room, Alex stops next to her "Thank you for helping me Yuffie" she says, "Anytime Alex!" Yuffie shouts. "You can go I'll put this all away" Alex insists, "Ok bye!" Yuffie says running out, Alex laughs as she puts everything back. "That was quick" she hears, she turns and sees Cloud in the door way "Oh hey" she greets. "Yeah it was only a few loose wires" she adds, he walks and stops right next to her. "Bye the way thanks" he says, she goes over the wall and grabs the log book. "For what?" she asks opening it, facing the engine. "With Tifa before" he says, leaning on the bench facing her. "Oh that it was nothing" she replies jotting down vapor pressure "I saw in your face that you were getting aggravated I didn't want a fight to brake out so I said that to stop her from nagging you" she adds, writing down the engines temp. He gets closer to her, "Still you didn't have to do that but since you did thank you" he says, she looks up at him "Your welcome" she half whispers, he stares at her and smiles. Alex gets flustered and looks away "I'll let you finish what your doing" he says, heading for the hall way. "Cloud?" Alex calls to him, he turns back to her. "Yea?" he responds. "Uh" she hesitates scratching her neck with her pen, she really wanted the words to come out. "Never mind" she says shaking her head, he nods and leaves. Alex takes a deep breathe and continues with her log ins.

Before going to Junon, Alex desperately needed a shower. She goes into her room grabs what she needs along with clean clothes, quickly showers, changes, and re-enters her room. she throws her stuff on her bed, Tifa and Yuffie were busy cleaning out there beauru and closets. Letting her hair to hang dry, Alex decides to do the same with her stuff. "Did Cloud say any thing about what Morgana knows?" she asks opening her bag taking out socks and underwear making a dirty and clean pile " No I guess well find out when we see her" Tifa replies hanging up some shirts. "Alex your hair is long you need a cut" Yuffie says walking over to her. Alex pulls some of her hair in front of her "Yeah I guess I should are there any places to do that around here?" she asks, Yuffie plays with some of Alex's hair. "No need Tifa can do it she's really good" Yuffie informs, Alex wasn't really sure of this. "Um I don't know about that" she says, "It's ok Alex I do Yuffie's and my hair all the time we can do it right now if you want" Tifa says taking out scissors. Alex still wasn't set on the idea but seeing that she had no other option she allows it, they both sit on the floor. "Now how do you want it cut?" Tifa asks, Alex wanted to make sure she was very clear in her description. "Keep it long cut only about an inch off the sides leave the scissors open but press down on the hair on an angle it will cut on its own do that on my bangs to but make them a lil shorter" she explains. Yuffie looks at Alex straight faced blinking a few times. Tifa goes right to work. Alex can feel and hear the cuts she squints afraid of what she may look like after this. "Please do a good job" she thought, the last thing she wanted was look like she leaned in to close to the propellers while they spun. Tifa moves to the front and does exactly what Alex told her to, even though she was doing what she wanted she was still scared. Eyes still closed, she can feel Tifa working on her bangs, that took the least amount of time. "Done go take a look" Tifa says, Alex gets up and heads for the bathroom, they follow. Staring in the mirror, Alex can't believe what she sees. Not only did Tifa do an excellent job but she felt like she did better then the hairdressers at home. "Wow its perfect thank you!" she yells hugging Tifa "Glad you like it" she laughs "See!" Yuffie shouts smiling. They go back to their room and clean up all the hair, Alex sees her griffins and straps them on remembering the last time she was in Junon.

Finishing cleaning, they make way for the bridge. All the boys were gathered at the controls, Cid was steering. As soon as they step in Cloud's phone goes off, he grabs it out of his pack and answers it. "Cloud here" he says, a few moments of silence. Alex can't hear who he's talking to. "Yea were just about there" he says walking over to the girls. "Ok" he adds hanging up. "Who was that?" Tifa asks, "Morgana she said she's running late she won't be there when are" he says, putting his phone away. He turns his head to Alex, "Did you cut your hair?" he asks her. She stares at him shocked it wasn't completely dry yet he still noticed. "Yea Tifa did it for me" she answers, then he sees her knives, he looks at her one brow lifted. She glances down then back at him "You never know" she says, he shakes his head and smiles at her. "So since Morgana isn't gonna be there for a while can we go shopping!" Yuffie yells excited. "I ain't going shoppin' "Cid says as he moves the helm. "Who invited you? I ment me and Tifa" Yuffie corrects, she walks to Alex. "You should come with us a lot of the clothes you wear are to big for you" she says tugging at her pants. "They fit" Alex says moving away "No they don't look a this" she replies putting her fingers into the belt loops, she pulls towards her. "Your gonna tell me these aren't big? I could fit in there with you!" she adds. "Not everything of hers is big what about those lil black shorts she has?" Tifa lets out, Alex buries her face in her hand. "Oh you mean the ones that are like a second skin?" Yuffie questions. Uncovering one eye, Alex looks at Cloud. Thankfully, he's not really paying attention. He had taken his phone back out and was fiddling with it. Tifa and Yuffie were still talking in the back round. "Alex should just walk around in a bikini any ways she's got the body for it" Yuffie says, Cloud's eyes grow wide hearing this, Alex has had enough. "Ok! I'll go shopping just please stop talking!" she shouts, her face is covered in red. "Yay" Yuffie yells jumping. "al'right were 'ere" Cid informs, Alex felt the ship land.

Out on the helipad, it's bright and warm. The sun reflected off the ocean on the other side of the wall. Alex walked out a bit on to the road and stood to get a better view of it. Cloud walks over to Tifa and Yuffie "The same rules apply you two" he says, to them they look at him. "What?" Yuffie asks, "Keep an eye on her" he orders, Yuffie rolls her eyes "Yea yea" she says waving him off. He grabs her arm and pulls her to him "I'm not kidding Yuffie if any thing happens to her your gonna have to deal with me" he warns, Yuffie tugs her arm away. "Ok ok I promise shell be fine geez" she says, she runs to Alex. Tifa steps in front of him "A lil harsh don't you think?" she asks, he folds his arms looks at her then to Alex "She's not like us Tifa she can't defend her self if needed" he says, she watches them with him. "Give her more credit than that remember she survived a week out on her own, she fell head first out of a tree, and not to mention being shot at she's not as weak as you think" she says. Cloud thinks about what she said and continues to look on, he sees her laugh and smile with Yuffie. Tifa did have a point this whole time he labeled her fragile but the more he thought about it. Any other person if they were thrown into an unknown world would of broken down and given up. But Alex didn't, she kept going. That alone without the other situations that have come her way showed just how strong she really is. "Yea maybe your right" he says under his breath. "Worry about her when you need to other wise its just wasted energy ok?" she lets out smiling, he nods "I'll call when Morgana shows up" he informs. Tifa goes over to them, they walk off for the shops.

In front of a hotel, Alex sees a weapons shop "hey can we go in there for a sec?" she asks. "Were supposed to be shopping for clothes Alex" Yuffie's replies, "Ooh materia!" she adds running over. Alex and Tifa laugh as they meet her inside. Yuffie runs straight to the materia display case, she presses her hands and face on the glass practically drooling over them. "Is she always like that when it comes to those?" Alex asks Tifa. "Pretty much" Tifa answers, looking at gloves. Alex scans all the shelves, she comes to metal polish and sharpening stones next to each other. "Oh yes I need these" she says grabbing them. She goes to the counter buys them and waits at the door. Yuffie buys a few materia, Tifa doesn't get anything, they exit, walk further down, and come to a clothing store just for women. "Lets go in here Alex!" Yuffie shouts dashing in. They follow her, inside, different styles of clothes hung all over. A woman comes out from the back "Hello can I help you with anything?" she asks them. "Yea she needs new clothes bad the ones she wears are way to big for her" Yuffie informs while patting Alex's back. The woman looks her over "Hmm yes she's right these don't fit your body type come theirs plenty here to choose from" the woman says, and with that they were off. One bye one, they pluck shirts and pants from every direction. A huge pile was put into a changing room for Alex try on. It took forever to go threw a lot of the clothes they picked Alex actually liked. Finally, the last bit of clothes that were left was a black tube top, it had sleeves attached to it that wrapped around her upper arms and dark green shorts that were much like Tifa's skirt she wore in Neiblhiem, it came right past her butt. She walks out to show them, gasps echo "That looks great on you" the woman compliments "You should wear that out of here!" Yuffie yells, Tifa smiles "I dunno" Alex says unsure. Yuffie takes Alex's clothes that she wore into the store and throws them in a trash can next to the counter. "There now you have no choice your wearing it" Yuffie says grinning, Alex wanted to get mad but instead she just went along with it. "Fine" she says with a sigh, "Oh I found these to" Yuffie says handing her gloves. Alex puts them on, they were biker style. Black and leather, they only covered her palms, holes were also cut out for the knuckles. "Hmm something's missing" Tifa lets out, she sees black boots in a corner takes them and gives them to Alex. She kicks off her shoes and laces them on. They stopped a quarter up her shins. Seeing her griffins she straps them on her thighs and puts her hair in a loose ponytail. "Well how does it look?" she asks turning her body in a circle, "It's perfect" Tifa says "Yea!" Yuffie screams clapping her hands. Tifa's phone starts to ring, she answers it "Hello" she says, Alex can hear a males voice on the other end. "Ok were coming now" she says hanging up, "Morgana's there we have to go" she says. They all chip in paying for the clothes and leave. They stop at the ship to drop the bags off then head for Morgana's.

Stepping into her shop, the boys were scattered around. Alex was the last one in "Were here!" Yuffie yells "my girls!" Morgana shouts running over, she hugs and kisses them, she sees Alex. "Well now don't you look sexy" she says walking to her. Cid and Barret turn to her "Damn" cid says, cloud who was sitting at the counter back to all of them turns, around his mouth flops open "Whoa" he whispers staring at Alex. "Doesn't she look so much better?" Yuffie questions, "Ya becoming more like us everyday" Barret says "I like it" Nanaki says sitting next to her. "Thanks Nanaki" Alex says petting him. Cloud gets up and goes over to her. He walks around her checking her out, he stops in front of her she looks up at him. "Nice" he compliments "Thanks" she says blushing. Morgana watching them, smiles wide. "Ok now down to business" she says going behind the counter. They gather around, Alex stood next Cloud. "So what did you find out?" Tifa asks, Morgana takes cakes off of a rack next to her and places them on a table. "I've been hearing around that Carnak is gathering materia and mako from the reactors he's also been recruiting a lot of people" she answers, now frosting them. "Well we already knew he was getting materia and mako" Nanaki says "How many people have joined him?" Cloud asks "Hundreds if not thousands I don't know the exact number but I do know its a hell of a lot" she answers, putting the cakes on display. "Why would he need mako and so many people" Tifa asks "That I'm not sure but whatever he's planning its big" Morgana replies standing at the counter. Alex listening to this was in deep thought, the pieces then come together "He's making an army" Alex lets out, heads jerks to her. She looks up at Cloud "Remember what you told me about Shinra?" she asks. "But it wasn't just mako Jenova cells were used to" he answers "Right but you did say that mako was used in the process materia has power fused inside if enough of that is given along with high dosages of mako think of the possibilities" she replies, every one turns to each other stunned. "It makes sense why else would he recruit so many people?" she adds. "I think you maybe on to something" Cloud says staring at her, Alex smiles at him. "There's one more thing" Morgana says, focus returns to her. "I've been hearing that he's looking for someone" she informs "Who?" Barret asks "I don't have a name but I know its a woman and she has this strange ability, she can read your thoughts or something to that effect" she says, taking cookies out of the oven. Concern now comes over everyone, Alex begins to breathe heavy. "Do they know were she is or what she looks like?" Tifa questions, "Hmm don't know but I do know that he is very interested in her" Morgana answers, taking the cookies off the pan. Alex starts to feel pain in her chest her breathing is now horse, she goes over to a wall presses her back up against it and slides down. Crouching, she covers her face with her hands, they all go to her. Cloud kneels with her "Alex" he says "you were right" she half whispers, looking at him. "Did I miss something?" Morgana asks. Cloud grabs her by the arms and stands her up "We need to tell you" he says "tell me what?" Morgana questions, Cloud walks Alex back to the counter "It's her they want" he answers glancing at Alex. "You? Your the one!" Morgana screams shocked, Alex nods and puts her head down. "So is it true? Can you really read minds?" she asks, Alex is to upset to answer. "Not really she more or less sees events that have already happened when she touches things or people sometimes it triggers it she can also see things before they happen" Cloud answers, looking at Alex. Morgana shakes her head in disbelief "I wasn't expecting that" she says, coming out from behind the counter and stops at Alex. "Not to worry dear" she says putting her fingers under Alex's chin making her look at her. "Your in good hands I can't think of better people to be with then them" she assures, Alex smiles and nods. "Well now that's over with lets eat!" she shouts running to the display case taking out plates of pastries. "You here" Morgana says pointing to Alex then to a seat at the counter. She sits, Morgana carves an enormous piece of cake drops it on to a plate then slides it in front of her with a fork. Alex wide eyed makes a face at her "Don't give me that look you skipped out last time this is making up for it" Morgana says giving her a tall glass of water "Now eat" she orders, Alex turns to everyone they were all chowing down. Cloud who was sitting next to her leans over "Just do it if you don't next time it will be the whole cake" he whispers, Alex cringes at the thought of it she takes the fork and digs in. "Smart move" he chuckles, "So I've noticed she doesn't make you eat while your here you not into sweets?" she says putting more cake in her mouth. "it depends" he answers "On what?" she asks "On what it is" he replies, his eyes move to her one brow raises up. She looks at him confused she's not really sure what he ment by that but she wondered if he was still talking about pastry, she smiles and continues on the cake.

A few hours later, the group decided to head out in the morning instead of getting rooms and spending gil they stayed in the ship. Alex now with a stomach ache, sifts threw all of her new clothes, she finds the metal polish and stone she bought. She takes clean cloths from the engine room and goes out on the deck. She walks over to the seat climbs on it and sits. The way the ship was parked the deck was facing the ocean. It was late evening the sun was bright orange as it hung above the water line. She unsheathes one griffin and takes hold of the stone. Cloud about to enter into the ship hears a loud scraping sound, looking around he realizes its coming from the deck, he goes in to investigate. Opening the door, he sees Alex sitting on the seat "Hey" he says walking to her. Startled, Alex quickly turns to him "Oh hi Cloud" she says running the griffin against the stone. Cloud stands in front of her and watches, he knows now what the sound was. He moves and leans on the seat next to her "Were did get you those?" he asks, "They were a gift I haven't been giving them the care they need I figure I should start I might need them in the future don't want them to be dull and rusty when that happens" she explains, holding the knife up, she scrapes her thumb on the blade testing its sharpness. Thinking its good enough she puts it down next to her and takes out the other. "Do you even know to use those?" he asks, Alex makes a face at him "Um yea" she says holding the knife blade out and does a stabbing motion with it. He laughs and shakes his head "No no not like that like this" he says, he takes her hand and turns the knife pointing it down he then flips it making the blunt part sit against her arm. "If you hold it this way your able to punch and slice at the same time more effective" he says letting go, she looks at her arm then him and smiles. "Thanks I'll remember that" she says "no problem" he replies folding his arms. She sharpens it for a few minutes then puts the stone down, she opens the polish, dips one cloth into it, and wipes it on the knife in small circles. "Oh I have something for you" he says, reaching into his pack. Alex stops what she's doing and glances over to him. He takes his hand out and puts something around her neck. Looking down it was a black rope like material, a silver ring hung from it. She holds it up and examines it. It was the same icon he wore on his shoulder and ear, she turns to him not understanding. "Everyone has them" he says, tilting his head staring at her "Your one of us now" he adds. Alex doesn't know what to say, all she can do is look at it. A few minutes of silence hover over them. "I love it thank you" she says smiling at him, he smiles back. He puts one hand on her head and rubs "Hey!" she laughs smacking it away.

Both knives now polished she places them back in there sheathes, gathers the polish, cloths, and the stone. "Stay here I'll be right back" she says, he nods. She leaves, throws the cloths in the engine room, puts the stone and the polish away in her room. Then goes back out on to the deck. Cloud was now sitting on the seat, he left space for her, she jumps up on it and sits next to him. "How long did you work for this Shinra company?" she asks, his arms still folded he bends one leg up. "A lil over a year" he answers "How did you get into engineering?" he asks, her back pressed up against the ship she stretches her legs out in front of her and puts her hands on her lap. "When I was a kid I always took things apart when I got older I was able to put them back together afterwards so I went to school for it when I was done I got a job right away with a company called Scyferous Works they build machines and their workers sometimes get called out to fix problems other companies are having with their equipment" she explains. "School?" he says confused "Yea in my world there are all kinds of schools you can go to learn different trades when your done you get papers indicating that you completed the means necessary for them so you can get really good jobs" she continues, "Sounds complicated" he says shaking his head. "So do any of you have families of your own?" she asks, "Barret has a daughter her names Marlene she's currently staying with friends at Tifa's bar in Edge City they run it while she's gone" he replies. " Edge City were's that?" she questions, "It's north west from here well be stopping there soon" he answers. It was dark out now the waves from the ocean can be heard crashing on the wall. "What about you?" she asks looking at him "Nah" he says "How come?" she questions "Haven't found the right person" he replies, turning to her. "Understandable" she says, lifting her head up to the sky. "You don't have to explain why you don't I already know from Yuffie" he says, Alex puts one hand over her face "oh geez I could kill her for that" she whispers "Don't worry about it" he says. Alex can feel her self starting to get tired she closes her eyes and puts her head on the ship, he looks at her "You should get some rest" he insists "I'm fine" she assures. "Who is fenrir?" she asks not moving "Huh?" he says "Tifa said that name earlier who is it?" she questions "Oh that's my bike" he answers "What's does it mean?" she asks "Wolf" he replies "You really like wolves what is it about them?" she asks "Zack told me once when he finally dies he would want to come back as a wolf" he replies. Alex opens her eyes and shifts them to Cloud, she can see the sadness in him "He was very important to you" she says "Zack was my best friend he gave his life for me I owe everything to him" he says. Alex can tell it's been hard for Cloud to get over Zack's death, she scoots closer to him. "I know it's not easy to deal with when you loose someone but just because they die doesn't mean their completely gone their still with you... here" she says, pointing to his chest "You just have to believe it ...here" she adds, running her fingers threw his hair. Touching it, she was surprised it was so soft. Judging by the way it stood up she expected it to be stiff. Cloud was so moved by her statement he couldn't stop looking into her eyes. He puts one arm around her and pulls her closer to him making her lay on his chest, he takes his other arm and places it on her shoulder. "Thanks I needed to hear that" he says resting his head on top of hers "Anytime" she says smiling ear to ear. Now comfortable, Alex closes her eyes once more and falls asleep. Cloud not wanting to wake her doesn't move, he goes to sleep shortly after.

The morning light wakes Alex, she finds her self laying flat on the seat. She sits up and looks around "Cloud?" she calls out, no answer. "He must be at Morgana's" she thought, Rubbing her eyes, she hops off the seat and enters the ship. She goes into the bathroom freshens up and steps into her room to change. She knew if she put on her old clothes Yuffie would have a fit so she rummages threw the bags and takes out another pair of shorts that were black stretchy and spandex like, they came a lil further down her thighs, and a purple spaghetti strap top. She dresses, brushes her hair, and laces back on the new boots. She un straps the griffins and tucks them away in a beauru drawer. Going down the ramp outside, she hears a lot of commotion. Rounding the corner of the ship, she can see large groups of men and women yelling then breaking off in to smaller groups. They all wore dark blue clothes and were carrying guns. Alex watched them as they went from shop to shop home to home. Some running further into the city. Suddenly, a hand comes around from behind covering her mouth, she turns almost letting out a scream. It was Cloud he puts, one finger over his lips telling her to be quiet. He motions with his head to go in the ship. They run to the bridge, the people in blue can be seen from the window. "Who are they?" she asks "Take a guess" he replies "Carnak?" she questions, he nods keeping his gaze on them. "Were is everyone?" she asks "They already know their hiding at Morgana's" he answers "They must know I'm here" she says "Maybe but they don't know were we need to hide" he replies. Glancing around, Alex thinks of a place. "The ventilation system its strong enough to hold the both of us we can hide in there" she informs "Lets go" he says taking her hand, they head to the engine room. Alex takes a screw driver from the bench "No time for the ladder come on" he says overlapping his hands and bending down in front of her. She steps on to his hand, he hoists her up to the vent cover just under them ,she unscrews the vent as fast as she can. The last screws come out she pushes the vent up inside the shaft. He lifts her up further, she crawls in. She turns to help him, he jumps up, grabs the edges of the vent opening and climbs in. She blankly stares at him "What?" he asks, she shakes her head "Nothing" she says. She goes over to the opening and places the cover on it. She screws in just the corners to keep it from falling down. "Were did you get the idea to go in here?" he asks "When I was cleaning them before I noticed the shafts were thicker and denser then normal if they were flimsy every time the ship would turn on the vibration from it would make them give way and collapse" she explains "You could tell by just looking at it?" he asks " Yea it's what I do" she giggles looking at him. Cloud's eyes then turn away, he holds his head up "What is it?" she asks "Their here" he whispers. She quickly goes over to him, they sit in silence and wait. _Alex gets the feeling again, a flash goes threw her mind she can see them both huddled hiding. She can hear echoes of men talking threw the vent Cloud's phone then goes off, they hear it. They shout and scream at them to come out or they'll shoot._ She now comes back to reality "Cloud turn off your phone" she whispers to him "What why?" he replies "Just do it trust me" she says, he sticks his hand in his pack takes out his phone, flips it open, and presses a button. She hears a beep as it shuts down "There" he says putting it away. Just seconds, later they hear footsteps and people talking in the engine room. "Find any one?" one man asks "no the engine is cold who ever owns this has been here for a while" another man answers. Alex feels a tickle in her nose from the dust they kicked up going in. she silently huffs a few times, Cloud pinches her nostrils shut keeping her from sneezing. She opens one eye and looks at him. He making a face at her takes his hand away. Not hearing the men any more, Cloud quietly crawls over to the vent and listens "Are they gone?" she whispers. Still over the vent he holds up one hand, Alex closes her mouth and stays silent. He tilts his head as if he hears something "Cloud? Alex!" comes threw very faintly, "Alex?" is heard louder. "Alex screwdriver" he says to her holding out his hand, she gives it to him. He unscrews the cover and lets it drop to the floor "In here!" he yells, he jumps down. Alex goes to the opening and looks at him "You guys ok?" Tifa asks "Were fine" he says looking up, he sees Alex ."Come on" he shouts to her "Are you kidding? That's like 12 feet!" she yells "Alex its ok I'll catch you" he assures, holding his arms out. "He wont let you get hurt Alex" she hears Tifa say "Uh" she says still hesitant "You can do it come out feet first" he instructs, she swivels around and lowers herself out of the opening. She feels Cloud grab her feet "ok good now let go" he tells her she closes her eyes and drops. Cloud puts one hand just below her arm pit and the other on her waist holding her up in the air. She opens her eyes "See I told you" he says putting her down "nice catch" she says smiling at him, he looks back at her with a smile half. A sneeze creeps up on her, Cloud squints his eyes and removes his hands. Covering her mouth, she glances back at him "Sorry" she says, he shakes his head and chuckles. She walks to the shelves, gets a clean cloth, and blows her nose. Everyone now enters the room "There you both are... are you ok?" Nanaki asks, walking over to Cloud "Yea thaCnks to Alex's quick thinking" he says turning his head to her "What's going on?" Vincent asks "Their Carnak's people their looking for her they were in here not to long ago" Cloud answers "Ah hell no they were in my ship?" Cid asks, cloud nods. "Those bastards!" Cid shouts angrily "We need ta get outta here" Barret says "Hold on a sec!" Alex shouts, walking over to them "Their probably still close by if we leave now they'll get suspicious we should wait till they move further into the city" she adds. Cloud goes over to her "Your right" he says "Yuffie" he says, looking at her "Follow them when their far enough away come back" he orders "You got it!" she says racing, off Alex thinks this is strange. "Why Yuffie?" she asks "Yuffie has a talent for being stealthy and undetected" Cloud answers "Cid make sure the ship is ready to go" he orders, Cid nods and leaves. They all follow and wait in the bridge for Yuffie.

An hour later, Yuffie runs into the bridge "Their in the shopping district now" she informs "cid" cloud says, turning to him. Cid flips a few switches, the ship rumbles and lifts off. Now all sitting in the 'meeting' area except for Cid, Alex hunches over on the couch "So what do we do now?" she asks them "We can't do anything till we know what were up against we need to find out more" Cloud answers, he stands up and stops in front of them. "We have to go see her" he adds, Alex is confused "Her?" she asks "Siren she's the last of our contacts she'll give us more incite into this" he answers, continuing over to the window. Barret, Vincent, and Nanaki accompany him, Cid was still at the controls. Alex and the girls stayed on the couches "I need to find myself a man" Yuffie lets out putting her arms behind her, head Alex and Tifa look to each other and laugh. "Were is this coming from?" Alex asks "I haven't had one in a while" she answers "Oh ok" Alex says laughing more. "How long has is been since your last date?" she's asks, Alex sits back on the couch "I don't know a while I guess" she replies. "It's not just the dating I miss its the other things if you know what I mean" she says smiling at Alex. Wide eyed Alex rubs them "Oh geez Yuffie" she says, covering her face. "How come when the conversation goes to sex you don't want to talk about it?" Yuffie blurts, out the boys were now listening "Could ya at least wait till ya in yer room to talk 'bout that?" Cid says "Honestly Yuffie" Nanaki adds. "What? It's true when ever the topic goes to sex she gets all shy and stuff" Yuffie replies "Not everyone can talk freely about it like you can Yuffie" Tifa says, Alex's face is turning pink. "Well maybe she should start I mean she's never done it before if she talks about she'll learn how to do it when the time comes" Yuffie explains "That's it I'm out" Alex says standing "Come on Alex its not that big of a deal" Yuffie says, trying to stop her from leaving. "You may think its not but it is for me I'm not comfortable with it cuz I don't have anything to say about it" Alex informs. "Yuffie leave her alone alright?" Cloud says, Alex looks at him, he nods and turns back to the window. "Fine" Yuffie huffs, sinking into the couch. Tifa gets up and walks over to the boys "Uh Cid?" she says "What?" he replies "I would take a look at this" she tells him. He flips on auto pilot and goes to the window, Yuffie and Alex head over to "Ah hell that's not good" he lets out "\What is it?" Alex asks, she can't see what they're looking at "A big storm is comin' gonna have land till it passes don't wanna get struck bye lightnin' while flyin' " he informs. Cid back at the controls, takes the plane off auto pilot and parks in a field. Alex could see how dark it was out from the storm, a few roars of thunder and lightning flash around them. Everyone leaves the window and goes about there business. Alex stays and watches the storm as it flew by. It started to down pour, the storm didn't stay for long but Cid didn't want to fly in the heavy rain. Alex decides to take this opportunity and exits the ship. She steps out into the rain it was cool and soaked her immediately. Cloud sees her from the window, walking down the ramp he goes over and stops next to her "What are you doing?" he questions, she closes her eyes "when ever I had a bad day I didn't want to talk to any one so I would keep to myself one time I went outside when it was raining kind of like it is now it was so quiet all I could hear was the water hitting the trees and the ground around me I just stood still and listened it didn't matter at that point what was going on or what I was feeling it just seemed like it was washed away and then everything was ok" she answers. Cloud watches as the rain hit her face. He never met anyone like Alex before he was intrigued by her even though she can be shy she was also honest not to mention smart, her way of thinking knocked him for a loop. "lets go inside your gonna get sick if you stay out here" he says walking away, she enters into the ship with him. He leaves her for a minute and comes back with towels he gives her one. They dry themselves off, she glances up at him "Even drenched your hair still doesn't flatten" she laughs rubbing her hand on his head. He lifts one brow at her and hits her with his towel. She holds up her hands blocking it and hits him with hers. They do this for a couple of seconds. He stops, staring at her she does the same, he moves some hair from her face and leaves his hand holding her neck his thumb on her cheek. Alex doesn't understand what's happening or why he was looking at her the way he was. Her heart pounds, he leans in closer, she closes her eyes, he presses his forehead on hers and hovered there. She can feel his mouth barley touching hers. Alex was frozen she didn't know what to do next. She was so nervous her breathing was sporatic and her lips were quivering. "Hey Alex were takin' off in a minute would ya check the oil pressure?" Cid asks appearing in front of them, they turn to him. Cloud steps back a lil and clears his throat "Was I interuptin somthin' " he questions, Cloud glares at him. "Um I'm gonna go do that" she says going down the hall. In the engine room she puts one hand on her chest panting. "What!" she thought, she was sure she wasn't dreaming he really did almost kiss her just now. She takes a min to calm her self down and gets the log book.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Poking her head out of the bathroom, Alex looks left down the hall, then the right. With no one around she slips out and rushes to her room. Almost at the door, she hears Cloud and Tifa's voices coming to her. She turns the knob as quickly and quietly as she can opens it and enters closing it in the same fashion. She presses herself against the door blowing her bangs off her face "That was close" she thought. For the past couple of days she's been staying clear of Cloud. She felt bad for doing so because he and her had become close. But when he almost kissed her it brought the shy in Alex back. She has never been in that type of situation. It scared her more so than when she had a gun pointed to her face. She doesn't know how to act when it came to that. But at same time that moment was everything she ever wanted. Still, she wasn't prepared for it.

Since Yuffie took the liberty of getting rid all of her old clothes Alex searches threw the new ones. She finds bottoms that were tan and Capri like. Putting those on she sees a top that Tifa had picked out for her in the store at Junon. It was a tight bright blue v-neck it's sleeves stopped just at her elbows. Her hair in a side pony tail she laces on her black high tops. Yuffie and Tifa now come into the room "There you are you know I'm starting to think that maybe we have two ninjas instead of one" Tifa remarks sitting on her bed. Alex gives her a strange look "Wait huh?…whose a ninja?" she asks, Yuffie raises her hand "Uh duh that would be me" she replies doing a back flip "I'm the best there is" she adds. Given the city she is from it being so much like the Asian region from her home she wasn't surprised that ninjas existed here to or that Yuffie was one. "So why do you think there's two of them?" Alex questions now sitting on her bed. "Well lately the only time we see you is in here before we go to sleep" Tifa answers. Alex hangs her head down "Heh yeah sorry …the engines been keeping me busy" she replies. Alex now sees that hiding from Cloud is effecting everyone else to. She realizes that she's being childish and that she is doing the exact thing that she promised herself in Medeohiem she wasn't going to do any more, run. She turns her head to her beauru behind her. After that day when it rained she took off the necklace Cloud had given her along with her wet clothes. She placed it there and forgot about till now. She stands up, walks to it and picks it up. Looking the ring over she remembers when Cloud gave it to her "You're one of us now" his voice echoes threw her mind. It wasn't just Cloud's symbol it stood for all of them. Avoiding Cloud was intern also avoiding them. She smiles and wears it around her neck. "That's that" she thought. While on the 'not running' kick Alex decides its time to talk about something she's been to uncomfortable to discuss "Hey guys?" she lets out. They look at her, Alex turns around facing them "What does kissing feel like?" she questions. Both of them stare at her shocked "Were is this coming from?" Tifa asks. Alex didn't want to reveal its origins "I'm just curious" she replies. Yuffie jumps on to her bed "Yay! It's about time!" she shouts, Tifa and Alex laugh watching her "Come!" Yuffie yells pointing to her bed. Alex sits next to her at the end of it "So what is it that you want to know?" Tifa questions. " What do you do when it happens?" Alex replies "Well their isn't one specific thing to do you just go with it" Tifa answers. "But what do you do with your mouth? Or hands? Or body?" Alex continues "You do this!" Yuffie shouts while closing her eyes and making a weird kissing fish face. Alex lifts one brow watching her. Tifa shakes her head and giggles, she reaches and places one hand on Alex's knee, she looks at her. "Don't over think it when the time finally comes just go with the flow you'll know what to do" she tells her. "Hey! Does this mean we can talk about sex now!" Yuffie screams excited. Alex rolls her eyes "Lets save that for another time ok?" she replies laughing. Yuffie leaps off her bed "Ok but we are going to talk about it" she says pointing at her. Alex smiles and nods. "We must be almost there by now come on" Tifa says going to the door. Nervous, Alex gets up and leaves with them.

Entering the bridge, Tifa and Yuffie go off to the 'meeting' area Alex stayed in the doorway. The boys were all gathered at the controls, Cid was of course smoking. "Well look who decided to show her face" Nanaki announces. The boys all jerk their heads to her "Hey" she greets waving to them. "Were the hell ye' been?" Cid questions "Haven't seen ya in a while" Barret says. Alex walks over to them stopping next to Vincent. "I've been working in the engine room" she answers. She glances over at Cloud, he was already looking at her. She smiles at him, he smiles right back. "So who is this Siren anyways?" she questions "She's a very good friend of ours she's been wit' us since the beginning" Cid answers flipping a few switches "The beginning?…of what?" she asks "Of avalanche" Nanaki replies. "Oh" she answers. She goes to the window, mountains and sky are the only things visible. She hears footsteps coming and end right next to her. "Everything ok?" she hears. Turning her head she finds Cloud standing on the side her. "Yeah why do you ask?" she replies. "Haven't seen you around in the past couple days" he says folding his arms. Alex wondered if maybe he knew why she was being dodgy, she hated the thought of things being awkward or different between them "Everything is alright Cloud really" she says looking up at him smiling. He tilts his head and shifts his eyes to her "Good to hear" he says with a half smile. "Al'right were 'ere" Cid says. Alex watches as the mountains get closer and bigger the ship rumbles loudly as it lands and shuts down.

Outside, Alex sees that they were in a valley the mountains surrounding them. Making it up a small hill with the group Alex viewed the area. To the left of her, was an enormous lake with a river pouring into it. In front of her, was another small hill. At the top was a huge two story home with a porch wrapping around the bottom. As they got closer Alex notices a small plane parked on the right side of the house. "That must be how she gets around" she thought. They all stood at the front steps "Siren ya 'ere?" Cid calls out. The door opens "I don't believe it!" is heard. A woman dashes out to them "I haven t seen you all in forever!" the woman yells hugging them all. She goes over to Cloud and throws her arms around his neck, Alex was standing with him. She lets go "Hey you it's been a while" she says to him smiling "Yea I know" he replies. Siren wasn't at all what Alex thought she would be. She was very pretty and about the same height as her with reddish brown hair her eyes were dark brown. She wore a yellow dress that went a lil past her knees. She notices Alex "Oh hi and you are?" she questions folding her arms and looking at her up and down. "Hi I'm Alex" she greets, Siren lifts one brow up at her "Siren…nice to meet you" she replies glaring at her. "Come in come in!" Siren says going up the steps. Everyone follows her inside, walking into the living room her home was designed almost like Tifa's in Neiblhiem. Except it looked lived in and the furniture was more feminine. Cid and Barret occupied the couch, Nanaki lay just in front of them, Vincent and Cloud remained standing while Tifa and Yuffie sat at a large dining table just to the right of the living room. Alex stood next to them. "Ok before we catch up what is the reason for you being here?" Siren asks "Does the name Carnak sound familiar?" Cloud questions. "Oh yea I've heard of him" Siren answers "What do you know?" Tifa asks "He's been recruiting people to do his dirty work and going around to all the reactors taking mako and materia from them…but since you're asking about him I'm guessing you already new that" Siren replies "Yep so what else?" Cid questions "Well I also heard that it's not just people he has under his command I don't know really what they are the only word I can use to describe them is monsters" she answers "That's new" Nanaki says "What's he planning?" Cloud questions. Siren turns to him smiling "That I'm not sure" she replies "What I can tell you is that he's based some were deep in the marshlands and that what ever he is trying to do he's no were near ready to carry it out Plus it's not even him that's calling the shots some one higher up is giving the orders I've tried to find out who but no one is talking whoever this person is their very illusive and doing good job staying hidden" she adds. Everyone's heads turn to each other "Great and here I thought taking care of this guy was going to be easy now we have to deal with monsters and this other person" Yuffie huffs throwing her arms up "Siren tell us…have you heard any thing about him searching for some one?" Tifa asks. Siren puts her head down thinking about her question "Actually I have supposedly some woman that can see things but that's all I know" she answers. Alex was relieved at least to hear that he didn't know her name or were to find her. "Is there anything else you can tell us?" Cloud questions. Siren walks past Alex to a revolving door, she opens it a lil and looks back at him. "That's all I got" she answers smiling wide at him. "Now you all must be hungry Tifa…Yuffie… want to give me a hand?" she asks. "Sure!" Yuffie shouts jumping up "Of coarse" Tifa says, they all go with her into the kitchen. Alex can hear pots and pans clanging together as they talked, the door muffled them. The boys started their own conversation, Alex decided to take a look around. While they asked Siren about Carnak she saw stairs leading up to the second floor. She Climbs them leading her to a hall way with rooms on both sides. Six of them bedrooms and two baths, at the end of the hall way was a window. She goes over and looks out of it. The mountains were just behind Siren's home part of the lake can be seen on the left. "You're very nosey" she hears from behind her. She turns quickly to find Cloud standing just beyond the stairs "Oh hey Cloud you scared me" she says "Sorry didn't mean to" he apologizes while walking, stopping next to her "It's ok" she replies moving back to the window. "This is amazing Siren's got it made but how come she lives all the way out here?" she says, Cloud folds his arms. "Siren's never been the city type she prefers to live out here were its quiet and not crowded" he answers "Well seeing this would make me change my mind about living in the cities its beautiful out here" she says moving her focus to the lake "Yea…beautiful" he says his eyes moving to her. Alex glances up, at him she was confused because he was looking at her not out the window. It dawns on her that he may have been referring to her. She lets out a nervous giggle and moves her eyes away only to go back to him, he didn't flinch. Smiling at him, she can feel herself blushing "Ehem" is heard at the stairs. Turning to the sound, Siren was standing at the top step her hands on her hips. "Dinner is ready" she informs them. She gives Alex the evil eye then heads down to the living room. Alex wasn't sure why she did that to her. She shrugs it off, leaves the window, and descends with Siren, Cloud goes after her.

A few hours of eating and talking, Alex found out how Siren came to be. She used to work for Shinra just like Cloud she was the company heads assistant. She met Cloud one day when he was coming back from a mission with a team of other infantry men. When everything went sour, then after he escaped from confinement they met up again and stayed in contact. She also found out that she is only a couple of years older than him. "So Alex when did you join avalanche?" Siren asks. Alex swallows down some food "I was traveling outside of Davenport when I ran into them they gave me a lift to Costa then after that they asked me to stay so I did" she answers. Siren who was sitting diagonal from Alex grabs her glass and sips from it "What is it that you do?" she continues "I'm an engineer" Alex replies. Siren chuckles at her answer she looks around the table and sees that none of them are laughing. "You're serious?" she asks stunned. Alex nods her head "She's very good" Tifa compliments "She's saved our asses a few times" Cloud throws in. Alex lifts her head up staring at him, he was right across the table smiling at her, she smiles back while drinking from her glass. Siren who was sitting next to him suddenly gets up and grabs a few plates "Hey Alex you want to give me a hand?" She asks. Alex nods, collects some dishes, and enters with her into the kitchen. They drop everything into the sink "Thank you for dinner it was…" Alex started to say, Siren cuts her off "Yea yea now you listen to me I don't know what you're reasoning for staying with them is but it better not be because of Cloud because he's off limits" She warns. Alex is thrown back by this "Uh…"she lets out. Siren grabs a knife out of the sink "I have been wanting to get with that man for a long time you are not going to mess this up you hear me?" she continues, pointing the knife at her. Alex wide eyed blinks a few times, she now knew why she gave her the evil look upstairs. Not wanting to be gutted like a fish she nods frantically. Siren throws the knife on the counter next to the sink "Good I'm glad we understand each other" she says exiting the kitchen. Alex stood in place for a bit "What the hell?" she thought. She shakes her head and leaves to continue helping clean up.

Afterwards, Cloud gets up and stands in the middle of the living room "We should head out" he says. Siren goes to him "So soon?" she asks almost pouting. Cloud looks at her "We have things to do" he replies "But I was planning on going to the materia fountain tomorrow it's not to far from here I'm going to need help carrying it all back" she informs. A loud gasp comes from Yuffie, she races over to them "Materia! Come on Cloud can we please! Please?" she pleads jumping in front of him, her hands together. Cloud rolls his eyes "Ok fine" he says with a sigh "Yay!" Yuffie shouts doing kart wheels. Alex knew what Siren was doing, she was using Yuffie's obsession with materia to get him to stay with her longer. "Well there's no need to sleep in the ship I have plenty of room for you all" Siren says with a smile. It was now dark out; everyone was upstairs relaxing on their beds. Alex however, ironically, was given the couch. She laid on it for hours staring at the ceiling not being able to rest. Mostly, because she was worried that Siren would come down and murder her in her sleep. She gets off the couch, goes out on to the porch, and sits on the top step. She folds her harms on top of her knees and looks onward. The moon was full it shined on every thing, the lake glistened from its glow. "Hey" she hears behind her, turning around Cloud was standing in the door way. "Hi" she says moving back. He walks over and stands next to her "Can't sleep?" he asks "Nah… you?" she replies, he shakes his head and sits with her. Alex kept watch for Siren she could be lurking any were. "What are you looking for?" he asks, his brow lifted. She stops and keeps herself facing forward "Um…nothing" she answers. "So Siren she seems…cool" she adds "Yea she is" he says "Um…Cloud?…have you noticed anything about her?" she questions. Cloud looks at her confused "Like?" he asks, Alex was a lil hesitant to answer "Well call me crazy but I think she has the hot's for you" she answers. "What?" he says shocked "What makes you say that?" he questions "The way she talks and acts around you I can just tell" she answers. "Really? You're sure?" he asks "Yup" she replies. Cloud then chuckles loudly "Well I'll make sure I let her down gently" he says. Alex jerks to him "Why?" she asks "Cuz I'm not interested in her" he replies, his eyes on her "Oh" she says smiling. She needed to stop this before it went any further its not like she wanted to but she was thinking that Siren could pop out of no were any moment. "I'm gonna try to go to sleep you should to" she says standing, he follows her inside. She crawls back on to the couch and drapes the covers on her. About to go up the stairs, he stops "Night Alex" he says to her. Alex didn't move "Night Cloud" she says back smiling. She can hear his feet as they met every step and then silence. She turns over and closes her eyes but keeps an ear out for Siren just in case.

Alex woke up feeling groggy, not only did she not sleep well but the couch she was laying on wasn't exactly comfortable. She sits up rubbing her eyes, Nanaki walks to her "Morning" he says. "Morning Nanaki" she says with a yawn. She realizes that it was very quiet "Were is everybody?" she asks stretching "They all left with Siren for the fountain they didn't want to wake you" he answers sitting next to her. "That's good cuz I really didn't want to go any ways why didn't you go?" she says "I was asked to stay behind with you" he replies. Alex partially smiled, she thought that must have been Cloud's doing. "What time is it?" She questions standing, letting out another yawn "It's almost noon" Nanaki answers. Alex goes to the door "Hey you wanna take a walk with me?" she

asks, Nanaki nods and leaves with her. They stroll around the valley talking about each others pasts and their families. She learned that Shinra had imprisoned him for experiments and that Cloud and the others freed him from them. "Is that how you got that scar on you're eye?" She questions sitting on the ground facing the lake "No I got that in a previous altercation" he answers sitting with her. Alex got the feeling he didn't want to discuss it she dramatically changes the subject "Nanaki?…have you ever been in love?" she questions. Nanaki cocks his head to her "What brought that on?" he asks. Alex sits Indian style and hunches over, her hands in her lap "It's just…I've never been in love before" She replies. Nanaki isn't understanding were this is coming from but he indulges her anyways "Once her name was Deneh we grew up together" he says. Alex turns to him "What happened with her?" she questions "After coming home from Shinra I learned that she had moved on else were" he answers. Alex couldn't help but felt bad for him even he as an animal had trouble with that. "I'm sorry Nanaki it must have been hard to handle when you found out" she says petting his neck "Not to worry there will be plenty others" he replies. Alex smiled then looked back at the lake, still petting him. The sun was beating down on them it was begging to feel warm, Alex then has a thought "Hey Nanaki? There isn't anything in the lake that would eat me is there?" she questions Nanaki stares at her confused "No why?" he replies. "I'm going to the ship I'll be back in a minute" she informs him and runs down the hill. She goes into her room and sifts threw her clothes. Yuffie and Tifa didn't know but Alex did buy a bikini while she was in Costa. She finds it, undresses, and puts it on. It was green the top had string ties that went around her neck and her back. The bottoms had strings on the sides to, she made sure that the knots were as tight as possible. She also bought some thing resembling a kaftan. It was a see threw mesh material that was almost like a dress its sleeves went past her elbows and was light green in color. She slips on her sandals, grabs a few towels, and heads back up the hill. She finds Nanaki in the same spot she left him. He sees that she has changed and has towels "What are you going to do?" he questions "Well it's warm and the lake is right there so why not go swimming?" she answers. She makes her way down to the waters edge, he goes with her. She sprawls one towel out on the ground and throws the other on top of it. She takes her hair out of the pony tail, removes her sandals, and takes off the kaftan. Dropping that on to the towels. She walks into the water, it was cool but felt good. "Wow Yuffie was right you do have the body for it" Nanaki says. Alex pivots and sees him sitting next to her stuff "Ok no offense Nanaki but that sounded a lil weird coming from you" she giggles "'I'm only stating the truth" he says "Well thank you" she replies. He nods; his tail was wagging behind him. Alex moves further out into the lake and dives in. She swims under the surface for a bit then pops her head up, wiping the excess water from her face. "This does feel nice" she hears next to her, she turns her head. Nanaki was paddling past her then he makes a round about back to shore. Alex laughed watching him. When they first met he made it very clear that he wasn't a dog but in this instant he was. Hearing him shake his fur, she continues swimming. She rolls on to her back and floats for a while. Where she was she could see a few mountain peeks in the distance it was very calming and soothing, it was nice to not have to think about any thing for once. Alex then began to here voices coming from shore, she puts her feet down and looks over. The boys were standing with Siren on the hill were Nanaki and Alex sat before, the girls were with Nanaki. Yuffie sees Alex in the water "You do own a bikini you liar!" she shouts "How? You never asked" Alex yells back "She does have a point" Tifa says "You guys should come in the waters great" Alex invites. They both go down to the ship and return. They plop there stuff next to Alex's. Yuffie barrels in like a kid, Tifa slowly enters. Alex meets them half way, where they were the water line was up just past Alex's breasts. Yuffie being so short had to stand a lil further away if not it would be above her head. They immediately start splashing each other. The boys hear the commotion and look at them, Siren does to. Cloud breaks off and walks down to Nanaki, he watches as they laughed and messed around. Alex sees him out of the corner of her eye "You coming in?" she asks him, he folds his arms and shakes his head "Cloud isn't a swimmer" Yuffie informs "Why not?" she questions turning to her "He just doesn't he's been like that ever since I can remember" Tifa answers. Alex looks at him "Wuss!" she hollers, he makes a face at her, she smiles and swims further out.

A half hour later, she decides its time to get out, she leaves the girls and goes a shore. Nanaki left prior for the house, Cloud was now sitting were he did. He watched as Alex's body emerged. One brow raised high; he checked her out from head to toe. He Already knew Alex was fit he just didn't know how well until now. He thought for a woman of her height she had a long torso. Her abs could slightly be made out, the water that was dripping from her only highlighted them, the rest of her was nicely toned. Alex grabs her towel and dries off, she sees Cloud staring at her. "What?" she asks. He quickly looks away and clears his throat "Nothing" he replies. She covers up with the kaftan and sat on the other towel. "You missed out you know" she says glancing over at him, he pauses "I don't think I did" he replies shifting his eyes to her. She smiles and watches the girls, he keeps his gaze. Siren then appears "Cloud can I talk to you inside for a minute?" she asks glaring at Alex. Alex now fed up with her does the same. He stands and starts up the hill, he stops and turns back to her "Were leaving soon make sure the ship is ready" he tells her "You got it" she says waving. Alex chuckles as they walk into the house. The boys leave as they enter. Siren leads him into the kitchen, she twirls around and holds out her hand. In it was purple materia "Its called quick death it drains energy out of your opponents so you can finish them off faster with everything I'm hearing about Carnak and his accomplice you're gonna need it I'll sleep better a night knowing you have it" she explains. He nods, takes it, and shoves it into his pack. She moves in closer "When this is all over with you should come back" she says "You sure you want us back here so soon?" he jokes "Actually I ment just you" she says, now a few inches from his face, griping his shoulder. Coming to the conclusion that Alex was spot on he lets out a sigh and removes her hand "Siren listen…you and I are good friends we've been threw a lot together and you're very important to me but that's as far as it goes" he informs her. Siren face was of pure disappointment, she steps backward. "It's her isn't it? She's the one you want" she says, Cloud looks away and doesn't answer "I'm sorry Siren" he apologizes. "It's ok you should go their waiting for you" she says.

They say their good byes and pour into the ship, it lifts off leaving Siren on the ground waving. Alex was more than happy to be out of there and away from her. Now in her coverall, she was searching for a new washer to replace a broken one she found on a pipe. "You were right" she hears at the door way she turns and sees it's Cloud "Huh? About what?" she questions. New washer in hand, she walks to pipe and starts unscrewing the bold that held the broken washer in place. "Siren" he answers. Alex stops and looks at him "Oh? What happened?" she asks, going back to what she was doing. "She made me an offer but I turned her down" he replies, Alex holds back a smile. "How did she take it?" She questions. The new washer now in place, she goes over to the bench to and puts the wrench she was using away "Better than expected" he answers. Alex shuffles to the door way facing him "She doesn't hate you or anything right?" she says "No were fine" he replies "Well good I'm glad" she says. She then has a brave moment "I don't blame her you know I can see why likes you" she flirts smiling at him. He tilts his head surprised at her bold statement, he smiles and places his hand on top of her head rubbing gently. One eye squinted she giggles looking up at him. They remained in that position for a few seconds. He takes his hand away and glances at her once more before going down the hall. Alex felt proud of herself for mustering up the courage to say that. It was so hard for her in the beginning to even look at Cloud and now she was flirting with him. The shell that she had covering her for so long was finally starting to break open and she liked the Alex that was coming out.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The next stop was Edge City. Barret wanted to see his daughter, the last time was about 4 months ago. Cloud and Tifa also said that they had some things to take care of in Edge City before pursuing Carnak. It didn't take long to get there it wasn't that far off from Siren's.

In her room, Alex feels the ship land. She undresses and throws on a short sleeve grey v-neck T, navy blue pants, and a black sweater type jacket it had a hoodie that zipped up in the front. She slips on her new black boots and brushed her hair back into a high pony tail. The door flings open, Yuffie pops her head in. "Come on already!" she yells "OK ok" Alex replies, grabbing her necklace. She puts it on while running down the hall with Yuffie. Stepping off the ramp, Alex saw that they were on the outskirts. It was desolate, all it was; was sand, rock, and some high cliffs in the distance. The city was half a mile ahead. Cloud had fenrir out and told them to go and that he would catch up.

Now in it's streets, Alex was in awe looking around. It reminded her of New York City from home. Tall buildings stretched as far as she could see. There were so many shops and homes all around. Crowds upon crowds of people swarmed the streets like bees in a hive. Cars and large trucks hauling goods beeped and honked as they flew by. About to head down a side street, Alex just happened to glance upward. A structure towered over everything else. She stared at it for a moment. There was something about it that gave her the same uneasy feeling she had when she saw that big house in Nebeilhiem. Even from far away it seemed like it was falling apart. "That's the remains of Midgar" Yuffie says next to her. Alex looks at her, then back to it. "Midgar?" she says "Yea that building was Shinra headquarters" she informs. After hearing everything about Shinra she now knew why she didn't like it. "How come the city wasn't rebuilt there?" she asks "When the Midgar was destroyed the Mako levels were to high to go near it even though its safe now it was decided to leave it as a reminder" Yuffie replies "Reminder of what?" Alex questions turning to her "Of what was and what could have been" she answers. Yuffie is never usually the one to be serious she's always clowning around it was different seeing her like this. "Tifa's bar is this way lets go!" she shouts while jumping "Well that didn't last long" Alex chuckled. They go further down the street and stop in front of steps "Here we are!" Yuffie yells running threw the door, everyone went in after her. Alex read the banner that was above the entrance "7th Heaven" she said to herself. Inside, tables and chairs sat in rows along the walls on both sides. It was completely open the kitchen can be fully viewed from were she stood. Two women walk out from an opening on the right wall. One of them sees the group "You're back!" she yells rushing over. "You're all here!" the other woman shouts from behind the counter. "Hey guys how are things?" Tifa asks going to the counter. "Great business has been booming" The woman on the other side of it says. She moves over to the register that sat against the left wall and hands Tifa a stack of files "That's the bars sales in the last few months" the woman informs. Tifa opens a few and reads them. "Daddy!" is shouted in a child's voice. Alex sees a lil girl dart out from the same opening. She jumps on Barret and kisses his cheek, he held her as tight as he could. " I missed you so much daddy" she whimpers "I missed ya to sweetie" he says. Alex saw in his face just how much he looked as if he was about to cry. "Tifa! Yuffie!" the lil girl yells running to them giving them hugs. She did the same when she saw Cid, Nanaki and Vincent. Alex was blown away, Vincent actually hugged her back. She was scratching Nanaki's ear when the door opens "Cloud!" the girl screams at the top of her lungs she runs as fast as she can over to him. He kneels down and picks her up she latches on to him, her head on his shoulder "Hey you" he says to her "You were gone a while" she says "We're sorry kiddo" Cid apologizes "What were you doing for so long?" she asks. "Grown up stuff" Tifa answers flipping threw the papers "Are you here for good this time?" she questions "We have more to do but we'll stay a couple of days" Cloud answers. Alex thought hearing that would make her upset but it didn't she guessed she was used to it. "Cloud?" she says "Yea?" he replies "Can we go for a ride on fenrir later? Please?" she asks lifting her head pouting her lips, Cloud looks at Barret. "A'ight just don't go to fast" he says "Yay!" she shouts. She notices Alex standing off to the side "Whose that?" she whispers into Clouds ear "Why don't you go ask her" he whispers back. She nods, he lets her down she walks to Alex. "Hi I'm Marlene" she greets. Marlene had brown eyes and brown hair that was braided. A pink ribbon was tied at the base of it, she wore a white dress with white flowers embroidered on it. Her skin color was light, she didn't look anything at all like Barret witch told her that Marlene must be adopted. Alex smiles at her and bends down to her level "Hi I'm Alex" she says. "Are you with avalanche to?" Marlene asks "I am" Alex replies. Marlene stares at her for a few moments Alex wasn't sure why. "You're really pretty" she compliments Alex awkwardly laughs and glances over at Cloud, he was watching them smiling. "Thanks you're prettier though" she says. Marlene lets out a giggle and goes back to Barret. Cloud walks to the counter next to Tifa the other woman stands at the other end of it "Oh Tifa I organized some things in your room I hope you don't mind" one of the women informs "No not at all" Tifa replies. Alex sits on a chair at the counter she can see the opening was more like a doorway with stairs visible. "Hey Cloud I put all the invoices on the desk in your room" the other woman tells him "Thanks" he says and heads up the steps. Alex can't help but think about what was just said she knew she heard them right they used the word 'room' instead of office to both of them. "Wait you both live here?" Alex questions. Tifa pops her head up "Yea" she answers with a smile and continues reading. "Together?" Alex asks "Yea" Tifa replies not moving. Alex makes a confused face at Tifa she remembered Cloud told her that him and her were just friends and now she learns that they live with each other. Tifa turns to Alex and sees the look on her face she realizes what she was thinking. "OH no not like that we sleep in separate rooms I own the bar and his delivery business is based here" she says waving her hands, Alex was relieved. "Tifa and Cloud are like brother and sister it would just be weird" one of the women states "Yea I agree" the other says "Oh by the way Alex this is Riya and Nikki Riya works here in the bar and Nikki takes care of the delivering" Tifa explains. Both women stand next to Tifa at the counter and say Hi to her. Nikki, was tall with short black hair and dark brown eyes. Her outfit was a black T-shirt with green pants and an olive green jacket. Riya was defiantly bar material. She was shorter, her hair was black to but the ends of it were dyed an aqua color and it was styled in buns on the sides of her head with some of the dyed parts sticking out of them. Her arms had tattoos covering them she also had some on the back of her neck. Her clothes were like Davenport Style her pants were black and had rips in them her top was also black but it had a few patches of red. Cid sits in a chair next to Alex, Riya looks at him "The usual Cid?" she questions "Yep make it a double" he answers. Riya reaches down behind the counter and places a glass in front of him. She spins around, grabs a whisky bottle, and fills it up. Cloud then re-enters "Can we go for a ride now!" Marlene begs pulling on his arm Cloud smiles and nods. "We'll be back" he tells Barret as they leave out the door. Alex heard the revving of fenrir's engine and listened to its echo as they road off. "So Alex what's your occupation?" Nikki questions, "I'm an engineer" Alex answers. Nikki then gets excited "Really?" Do you think you can take a look at my car? It's been making weird noises and running funny" she says. Alex laughs softly "I'd have to get my stuff from the ship but sure" she accepts Nikki takes out her keys "Great! It's parked just up the street I'll take you there in it" she says. Alex follows her out the door and walks beside her to the car. It was black and had 4 doors like a sedan. Nikki unlocks it, they both get in. She turns the ignition, Alex instantly knew what the problem was just listening to it. The engine was creating a sputtering sound witch could be the result of a faulty fuel gauge, the filters, bad sparkplugs, a leak, the catalytic converter, or all of the above. Alex wanted to be prepared "Hey before we go to the ship is there a place around here that sells car parts?" she questions. Nikki turns her head to her "Yea but don't you want to inspect it before we go?" she says, Alex shakes her head "No need I know what's wrong" she replies "Oh…ok?" Nikki says as she steps on the gas.

Pulling up to the ship parts in hand, Alex leaves them on the ground next to the car then went inside to zip on her coverall and get her tools, Nikki waited outside. Under the hood, Alex checked all the possibilities for the sputtering. She ruled out the fuel gauge, filters, and leaks. She was just about to examine the sparkplugs when she felt something weird come over her. It wasn't the same as before she was about to have an episode nor was it of when she saw the Shinra building this was different. She didn't know why but for some reason she turned and stared at the cliffs that were a few miles from the city and focused on one particular area. It was as if they were calling to her. "So what do you think is wrong?" Nikki asks next to her, Alex snaps out of it and proceeds working. She takes out the plugs and looks at them. They weren't broken or burnt out, she inserts them back into the engine "Must be the converter" she answers. She grabs a light, scoots as far as she can under the rear of the car, and shines it on the muffler. She sees the converter but unfortunately she can't reach it the car needs to be propped up in order for her to continue. She crawls out "Do you have a jack?" she questions. Nikki nods, opens the trunk, and gives it to her. She places it under the right side rear axel and begins to crank it. With the car lifted a few feet, Alex can now get to the converter. She slips underneath, removes the bolts and clamps that connected it to the pipe on the muffler. She taps at the pipe, it pops off. Now holding the pipe, she shines the light and sees the converter sitting on the end of it. She grabs hold, takes it off, and peers inside. Just like she thought it was completely clogged and black. She replaces it, attaches everything back on, and shimmy's out. She drops the car down and gives the jack back to Nikki "Here you go you should be all set now" she tells her "Wow that was quick" Nikki says putting the jack in the trunk.

Back at the bar, Alex sat out on the front steps sipping water from a glass relaxing. Were she was sitting the old Shinra building can be clearly seen. She gazed at it and contemplated as to what may have happened to Midgar for it to be in ruins. Cloud suddenly pulls up with Marlene on fenrir coming from the other direction. She was sitting in front of him at the handlebars it, shuts down. Marlene jumps off and turns to Cloud "That was awesome! Can we go again before you leave?" she says, Cloud flips down the kick stand "Well see" he replies kneeling down to her. "Do you really have to go?" she questions with a sad expression. Alex could tell in Cloud's face that it upset him to see her like that. "I'm sorry Marlene it's not like we want to but we have to" he answers "But why?" she asks, her head slowly hangs down. Cloud lets out a sigh and takes her hands into his "We'll explain it when you're older ok?" he replies "Ok" she says hugging him. Alex's heart melted watching this she never thought Cloud would have maternal qualities. Marlene lets go and runs up the steps "Hi Alex!" she greets going to the door "Hi" Alex says back. The door opens and closes, Alex could hear her talking inside. Cloud looks at Alex and notices she has her coverall on "Something wrong with the ship?" he asks, pointing to her body. She glances at him puzzled and drops her head down "Oh no Nikki asked me to help her out with her car" she replies drinking from the glass. He chuckles as he walks over and sits with her "Do you ever take a break?" he questions "Can't an engineers work is never done" she answers smiling at him. He turns to her and laughs softly. "You're great with her" she says, he moves his body, back against the railing facing her "Yea she's a good kid" he says looking at her. "She absolutely adores you" she says resting her head on one hand, the glass in the other. "Yeah sometimes I think it's only cuz of fenrir" he jokes, Alex smiles and laughs "Trust me Cloud the bike is just a bonus" she flirts turning her head to him. They lock eyes and exchange smiles. "I should of left this at the ship" she says tugging at her coverall. He flicks his eyes to fenrir "I could take you" he offers "But you just back" she says "I don't mind" he assures. Her smile grows wider, she bites her lips "Ok" she says. They both stand, Alex leaves the glass on the steps and climbs on the bike with him. He starts the engine, he felt her arms go around him, he grinned as they drove off. Flying threw the city, Alex placed her head on his back and closed her eyes. It was just as amazing as the last time they road together maybe more. It didn't take long to get to the ship Cloud left fenrir running she told him she wouldn't be long. She enters her room, unzips the coverall, and throws it on the floor next to her bed. She runs back out and shuts the ramp. She starts to walk back to the bike when she got that feeling again. She stops dead in her tracks and looks at the cliffs to the right of her, this time around it was more intense. "Hey Cloud tell me what's over there?" she questions. He stands next to her and sees what she's asking about "Zack's grave" he answers. Alex wanted a better understanding as to why she being drawn to that area. "His grave? Can you take me there?" she asks, he cocks his head to her confused as to why she would want to go. Then it comes him that she maybe had one of her visions or sensed it. He didn't like going there but he knew if Alex wanted to there was a reason for it. He nods, they hop back on the bike and head for the cliffs. They drive up a series of pathways that lead them to the very top. He pulls over, still sitting on the bike Alex sees something sticking out of the ground at the edge of the cliff. She slowly walks over to it, Cloud went with her. Instead of it being a grave stone it was a large thick sword. It was kind of the same style as Cloud's when all of his swords were fused. It was rusty from the wind and weather. Alex while looking at it heard a voice in her head telling her to touch it. She crouches down and reaches for it, Cloud watches her. She puts her palm on the blade and closes her eyes. _Her breathing becomes out of control all she can hear and see are the images that were pouring threw. All involving a man with black hair that spiked in the back. He had bright blue eyes and wore the same type of clothing as Cloud. She saw everything he went threw including how he acquired the sword and met Cloud. She was also shown his death. It was so much information Alex never had an episode like this one it was becoming painful._ Cloud can tell something is wrong he drops to his knees and grabs her face "Alex!" he calls out. She continues gasping for air and doesn't open her eyes. This is now scaring him she's never been under for this long. He sees her hand still on the sword remembering that her visions are mostly triggered he grabs her wrist and pulls it off, she collapses on to him passing out. Holding her, he yells her name over and over slapping her cheek trying to revive her. Her lids lift slightly "Cloud?" she says softly. He lets out a loud sigh of relief, she sits up holding her forehead "You had me worried there for a minute" he says "I'm sorry" she apologizes groaning "It's alright I'm just glad you're ok" he says "What happened?" he adds. Alex puts her hand on her lap and stares at the sword. "I saw it all" she replies "What do you mean?" he questions she closes her eyes "Everything Zack him working for Shinra the experiments when he died and you" she answers looking at him, he does the same. "It was bad enough hearing about it but to actually see it what you both endured I can't imagine how it must of felt how were you able to gather the pieces and move on?" she adds. He saw the sadness in her eyes "I had them with me" he says motioning with his head to the ship meaning the group. He then puts his hand on her cheek "And now I have you too" he says. She smiles "Yea you do" she whispers. His phone rings, he stands up gets it out from his pack and answers it. "Cloud here" he says, Alex could hear it was Tifa on the other end "Yea she's with me" he says rolling his eyes "Ok were on our way" he adds, he flips it down and throws it back into his pack. "What's up?" she asks "Tifa couldn't find you so she panicked and called me she also said food is ready and to get our asses back there" he replies. "Well lets mosey then!" she shouts running to the bike. He shakes his head and laughs following her.

Letting her go first, Alex and Cloud walk in to the bar together. Cid, Barret, and Marlene sat at the counter eating while the rest of the group were at the tables. Tifa, Riya, and Nikki were working in the kitchen. "There you two are!" Yuffie yells from one of the tables "We were wondering were you guys went" Tifa says from the other side of the counter. They turn to each other "Alex had to go back to the ship so brought her" he replies ,Alex tried to hold back a smile. "Well get it while its hot!" Tifa shouts getting plates for them. Alex sat with Yuffie, Cloud was with Vincent on the other side of the bar. They periodically looked at each other as they ate. "I wish we had one of Morgana's cakes to eat for dessert" Yuffie states rubbing her stomach, licking her lips. Alex then remembers a cake recipe that her mom used to make all the time. She gets up and goes to the counter. "Hey Tifa? Do you have any ingredients to bake with?" she questions "Yeah there's a pantry in the back" she answers. She finds it, gathers everything she needs, and starts to bake. A half hour later, the oven beeps Alex takes the cake out and puts it on a plate. It was really more bread or scone like than a cake with loads of chocolate chips threw out it. She dumps powdered sugar into a bowl with some milk and mixes making icing. She pours it on top and places it on the counter. Everyone who was observing her was completely surprised. "Dig in" she tells them, one by one they all cut pieces from it, Alex did to. "Wow! This is so good!" Yuffie shouts excited, gobbling it up. "This is good" Tifa agrees eating hers "Yum!" Marlene yells with a smile. Cloud comes over and tries some, he glances at her shocked "Were did you learn how to make this?" he questions "My mom she taught me" she answers "Morgana isn't the only one that can indulge a sweet tooth" she adds with a wink. He tilts his head, one eye brow up and smiles at her. "Were is your bathroom?" She asks Tifa "Threw the door way straight ahead" she directs.

Now freshened up, Alex stood at the bottom of the stairs. Curious, she climbs them. She stops on a landing with a room on the left. She turns the knob and peeks in. All she's able to see is a desk with stacks of papers piled on to it "Must be Cloud's room" she thought. Closing the door, she ascends up a second set of steps with a another room. The door was already open she saw two beds next to each other and a desk on the side of one of the beds. "Definitely Tifa's" she says to herself. To the right of her, was a hallway that lead to another door. She opens it stepping out on the roof. It was dusk now, the city was lit up and just as nosy as before, she leans over on the railing just in front of her. "Were did Alex get to?" Riya asks "Hey yea she's been gone awhile" Yuffie adds. Nanaki, who has been sleeping on and off on the floor pops his head up "I'm sure she's around here somewhere" he says, going back to sleep. Cloud lets out a smirk. "I think I know where she is" he says and runs up the stairs. He sees the roof door is open a crack he pushes on it and just as he predicted there she was. "I knew you'd be up here" he says next to her. She smiles a lil "Hey" she greets "Oh really how?" she says looking up at him "You're a creature of habit" he replies smiling. She laughs and faces forward. "Cloud? Do you remember when we were on the deck and you asked me what would I do if I never found

the clock?" she questioned "I remember I believe you said you'll cross that bridge when you get to it" he answers "Yea" she chuckles "I've been think about that…and I may never find it who knows maybe there isn't one…I'll probably never see home again." she adds. He hunches over the railing staring at her. "Before I would of said I'll stop at nothing to find it but If I have to stay here I think I'm ok with it" she finishes "You sure about that?" he asks. She smiles and turns to him "Yea" she replies. She looks down and sees the necklace she gave him for his birthday hanging out of his shirt, she grasps the pendant "You're wearing it" she says, he takes it from her hand "I have since you gave it to me" he tells her. Alex was surprised to hear that she didn't think he would have it on for this long. She tried to fight it but a big smile rows up she felt her face get warm from blushing. "By the way is there anything you can't do?" he questions she looks at him puzzled "What do you mean by that?" she asks "Well you're a hell of an engineer you're smart you have this amazing ability and you apparently can bake" he replies "I'm just wondering if there are things you can't do" he adds. Alex thinks about it for a moment "I can't cook rice" she answers. "What?" Cloud says squinting his eyes giving her a funny look "It's true try as I might it always comes out crunchy in the end" she says Cloud laughs and puts his hand over his face. "I can't sleep unless it's quiet and I can't dance" she adds "Can't dance or wont?" he questions "Can't I don't know how I never learned" she answers. He tilts his head, walks to the other side of her, and holds his hand out. She jerks to him "What?" she asks "Come on I'll teach you" he says smiling motioning with his head. "Now? But there's no music" she replies "There doesn't need to be" he says. She smiles and interlocks her hand with his. He brings her away from the railing and stops. He takes her other hand and puts it on his shoulder. He grips her waist. "Just follow me" he instructs. They begin to sway. "Were did you learn this?" she questions "My mother she said I might need it one day and she was right" he answers. Not taking their eyes off of each other, a silence crept up as they danced. Cloud takes the hand that was on her hip and places it on her neck. He was looking at her the same as the day with the storm. Her heart thumps, she starts to shake, she thought about what Tifa said "Go with the flow" sticks out in her mind. He leans in "Cloud" she softly whispers with a slight quiver closing her eyes. Their mouths connect, she feels his soft lips caress hers as they kissed. He could tell how nervous she was her body quaked severely. For her sake, he decides it's best not to rush. He pulls back and presses his forehead on hers. "We should get some sleep" he says, she nods. They re-enter the bar, he brings her to his room. He walks her in and shuts the door. He lays on the bed "Come on" he says waving his hand "Um…" she says hesitant. He makes a face at her "It's not what you think" he assures. She climbs in with him, he puts the covers on them, and wraps his arms around her "Night Alex" he says "Night Cloud" she says back smiling. He kisses the top of her head, they both slept soundly.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Alex awoke on her stomach, hands tucked under her. Blinking a few times, she sits up and looks around. She remembers now that her and Cloud slept in his room but he was no were to be found. Her thoughts then go back to last night. She touches her lips with the tips of her fingers thinking about how his felt on them making her giddy. Clunking down the steps to the bar, Riya is behind the counter stocking liquor. "Hi" Alex greets, Riya, putting bottles on a shelf peeks over her shoulder "Well look whose finally up" she says. Alex is facing her, "Were the hell did you go last night?" Riya questions continuing her work. "I was on the roof" Alex answers rubbing her eyes "We all wondered Cloud went off to find you and then didn't come back" Riya says. Alex Scratches her head "Uh yea he and I talked for a while then he went to bed" she replies "That's no surprise when he's home he likes to sleep as much as possible" Riya says "Were did you end up crashing?" she adds. Alex then gets flustered "Um…the roof" she replies. She couldn't tell her the truth. It's not that she was embarrassed about it even though they kissed the fact of the matter is Alex doesn't know what she and him are considered. Until it's figured out she's keeping quiet. "You must have been tired if you slept up there" Riya says now cleaning off the tables and chairs. "Yea" Alex giggles "Hey were is everyone?" she questions "Well Tifa and Yuffie promised Marlene when they came back they would take her to the toy store and the guys are off doing something not sure what" Riya answers. Alex goes to the door and puts her hand on the knob "Excuse me where do you think your going?" Riya asks "I need to go to the ship I'll be back in a bit" Alex replies. Riya runs over and stops her "OH no you don't I was specifically told to not let you go any were till either one of them got back" she demands "But I need to shower and change I can't wear the same thing I wore yesterday" Alex says. "There's a shower here and I have clothes in my car I keep just in case" Riya informs. Alex was a lil concerned because of the way she dresses not that it was bad or any thing it just wasn't her style but what could she do? She can't leave to get her things and she didn't want to be stuck with wearing her clothes for a second time "Ok" she agrees. "Alright Give me a few minutes" Riya says going out the door. She comes back and hands her a small pile of clothes "Here these should fit and everything you'll need is in the bathroom" Riya says. She walks into the kitchen and commences cleaning and stocking. Alex heads for the bathroom. She closes the door behind her, turns on the shower, and undresses. She stands directly under the water and just lets it pour down on her. All she thought about was Cloud. She never expected when coming here for everything to turn out as it has. It was exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. Stepping out, she grabs a towel that hung next to the sink and dries off. She looks at the clothes Riya lent her. She holds up black leggings and a dark grey skirt, she slips them on. The shirt was dark blue almost sweater like it fit loosely. Her back and shoulders were exposed and it formed a V shape on her chest. Luckily, she had on a strapless bra. She goes out to the bar, Riya who was at the register sees her "That's perfect on you" she compliments walking to her. She taps her index finger on her cheek and stares at Alex "What?" Alex asks "We need to do something with you're hair" she says going behind her "Now stand still" she orders. She takes her hair out of the pony tail Alex had put it in, she can feel Riya moving it around in sections. She comes to the front and makes a few pieces on the sides hang on her face. "Much better" Riya says with a nod. Alex goes into the mirror to check it out. It was braided, It's base started on the back of her head almost at the top. "Not bad" Alex says with a smile. She leaves and stands with Riya at the counter "So how long have you worked here?" She questions "I'd say it's been about a year now" Riya answers "Do you like it?" Alex asks "Oh Yea I love it especially when there here" Riya replies. She notices Alex's necklace "I see your wearing the avalanche symbol" she says reaching over, grabbing it. She puts the ring up to her face and examines "I've always liked these wish I could have one" she says admiring it. Her eyebrows shift downward "Did Cloud give this to you?" She questions "Yea he did why?" Alex replies. Riya holds the ring out to her and points at the inside of the band "The reason why I ask is because they all have their own and each of them has their initials on them" Riya explains, Alex looks at it. The letters C.S were engraved at the bottom part of the band. "He must of given you his" Riya adds. Alex is dumbfounded she doesn't know what to say. She wasn't mad that he didn't get one done with her name it was the total opposite. She was happy to know that it was his it made her feel special she couldn't help but smile.

The door opens "We're back!" Yuffie yells running to them, Tifa and Marlene come in after. "Hi guys" Riya greets, Alex waves to them. "Look at what I got!" Marlene shouts showing Alex a teddy bear "That's cute Marlene I had one just like it when I was your age" she comments, bending down to her "How old are you?" Marlene questions "I'm 22 how old are you?" Alex replies laughing "I'm 10!" Marlene yells "That's a good age" Alex says. "I'm tellin ya their rigged" Cid says coming threw the door. "That's what you get for betting on chocobo races" Cloud says walking in along with the rest of the rest of the boys. Marlene goes to Barret and holds his hand. "Look at what Tifa and Yuffie gave me" she says, Cloud hears her, turns around, and squats down "Oh nice you needed a new a one…did you remember to thank them?" he says "Yup" she replies. He sees Alex and stands up. His eyes go up and down checking her out. He lifts his head and slowly nods staring at Riya. "Hey don't give me that I did what you told me to do" Riya says pointing at him. Alex thought he was the one behind not letting her leave. His stare goes back to her "You look good" he compliments. "Thanks" she says smiling wide turning away from him, she could feel her face getting warm. Everyone else was wrapped up in there own conversations around them. "I wanna buy some materia feel like going Tifa?" Yuffie asks, "Sorry Yuffie but I have stuff to do here" Tifa apologizes. She stands next to Vincent "How about it Vincent?" she asks he glares at her "No way I'll never go with you again after the last time" he snaps "What happened?" Alex questions "Let's just say things got out of hand" he answers "Isn't that were she bit ya?" Cid asks. "Wait she bit him?" Alex says shocked "Oh come on Vinnie it wasn't that bad" Yuffie brushes off "If I didn't have my glove on you would have punctured the skin and I've told you to not call me that" he grumbles, Yuffie folds her arms and pouts. "I'll go with you Yuffie," Alex offers apprehensively "Great lets go!" she yells rushing to the door "Yuffie?" Cloud calls to her. "Yea yea I know" she says as they exit.

"Man! He's so protective of you I have to say it's getting really annoying" Yuffie gripes as they walked. Alex just laughs it off and changes the subject "What is it with you and materia anyways?" she questions "It was band from Wutai by Shinra a long time ago because we were considered a threat to them I have been gathering as much as I can so we can protect ourselves if we need to" Yuffie answers. Alex now understood her obsession. She wasn't just getting them for her it was for her people. However, she felt that biting was unnecessary. "There it is!" she shouts while jumping. They go into a store called Caliber where Yuffie bought four different colored materia, Alex didn't get anything. "You must have a lot of these Where do you put them all?" Alex questioned as they stood outside the shop "In my ultra super duper secret hiding place" Yuffie answers. Alex rolls her eyes and softly chuckles "Probably under your bed" she thought. "Oh hey that place is new it wasn't here the last time we were" Yuffie says pointing to a shop called The Third Eye just across from Calibers. "What is it?" Alex asks, "It's a fortune teller come on" Yuffie replies pulling her to it. Inside, Purple, blue, red, and orange curtains hung all around the room. A small round table with chairs, sat in the middle, a black shimmering cloth covering it. Candles burned in all the four corners. An older woman in a green dress appears "Hello I am Audette what can I do for you today?" She greets "Hi! I'm Yuffie I'd like to get a reading done!" She happily introduces. "Of course please sit" she says smiling. Alex sat facing her at the table Yuffie was on the left. "Before we start it is 200 gil" Audette informs, Yuffie pays her. "Now give me you're hand" she directs laying her left hand on the table, Yuffie puts her right into it. Audette then closes her eyes. "You have seen many things in the short time you have lived on this planet" she says, "You are very courageous and kind you have a spunky childlike soul" she continues "That sounds like her" Alex jokes "Shhhh!" Yuffie lets out "What about love?" She questions. Audette pauses before answering "I do see you with a man in the not to distant future and you know him very well". "Yes!" Yuffie says excited. "Ok now do Alex" she adds "Uh I dunno" Alex says "Oh come on Alex there's nothing to it" Yuffie insists "Alright" Alex gives in reaching, over the table. Audette takes her hand closing her eyes. They flip back open, a loud gasp comes from her as she lets go. "Are you ok?" Yuffie questions, Audette stares at Alex. "Yes I'm fine that is all I can do for today there's no charge you may leave" she answers holding her chest. "Ok?" Yuffie says, they both stand. Alex didn't know why Audette stopped. She wondered what she saw that made her upset. Yuffie goes out first. Alex follows her but feels a hand on her shoulder, she glances over it was Audette "Beware the black feathers" She warns. "What?" Alex replies staring at her blankly. Audette however, had the look of fear in her face. "Heed my words beware of the black feathers" she repeated. Alex didn't get the meaning of her statement. "Hey slow poke lets go!" Yuffie yells Alex turns and meets her, they head for the bar.

Yuffie walks in, Alex leaned on the railing. "Black feathers?" she says to herself. She then thinks of Audette and the expression she was making when telling her this. She was so terrified; Alex stores her warning in the back of her mind for later use. Cloud steps out and stands with her "You ok?" he asks she smiles at him "Yea just thinking" she replies. "When are we leaving?" she questions "Tomorrow" he answers sitting on the stairs "Marlene's gonna be sad when she finds out" She says "Nah she already knows she'll be alright" he replies. Alex sees the ribbon on his arm "Hey Cloud? I've noticed you each wear a ribbon what does it mean?" she asks, his mood shifts, he turns his head to it then looks off to the side. "Her name was Aerith she joined avalanche shortly after I did" he replies Alex sits next to him "Where is she now?" she questions "She died a few years ago" he answers. Alex saw the same look in his eyes it was the same as when he told her about Zack. "What happened to her?" she asks, Cloud lifts his head and takes a few breathes. "Back then Shinra wasn't the only thing we had to worry about there was also a man his name was Sephiroth he was the commanding officer of soldier he was the first of them when he found out about how he was made he became angry and went insane he betrayed everyone he called his friends" he explained. Alex began to think that Sephiroth was the reason he ended up being experimented on. "Aerith was the last of an ancient race called Cetra they were the first to inhabit the planet there city still stands today the Cetra had a direct connection to the planet they could speak to it and since she was one she could do this as well Shinra wanted her because of a prophecy that said a Cetra would lead the people to the promised land they believed it was filled with Mako to keep that from happening she stayed with us but Sephiroth had an entirely different plan he wanted to be one with the life stream Aerith was the only one in his way" he continued " He killed her" Alex says "Yea right in front of me" he replies "How cruel…what happened to him?" she asks. "In the end the planet helped us using the life stream we were able to defeat him" he replies "So that means he's dead?" she says "One can only hope" he replies. Alex was filled with such sorrow he has experienced so much death all because of other peoples greed and ignorance. It angered her to know that this never would of happened if things were just left alone. She then thought if the situations didn't take place he wouldn't be there with her, none of them would. She felt bad for thinking like that given what they have delt with but it was the truth. "So why pink?" she questions he smiles and looks at her "She wore all pink and had a pink ribbon in her hair" he answers "Oh like the one Marlene has" she says "It was hers" he replies. "What was she like?" she asks, he faces forward "She had a big heart she was caring patient and innocent she thought of others before herself there wasn't a mean bone in her body" he described. Alex had a feeling that maybe there was more to it then what he was saying, "You really cared about her" she assumes "We all did" he says, hanging his head down. It was obvious to Alex that his feelings for Aerith ran much deeper " You were in love with her" she states he doesn't move or answer. He didn't have to it was enough for Alex. Her Heart ached once more for him she wasn't just a friend she was someone he loved and possibly died in his arms it was more than she could bare. Her eyes began to glisten, she fought herself trying not to cry "I'm so sorry Cloud" she says placing her hand on his knee. He Looks at her, he heard the sympathy in her voice, he could see the tears starting to form. He smiles and puts his hand on her head "Like I said don't be everything eventually worked itself out" he says, he pulls her closer to him, placing his lips on the top of her forehead, they stayed in that position for a while. He sits back and rubs her head smiling. She laughs, nudging him with her elbow. Marlene comes outside "Cloud can we go for another ride please?" she begs, he turns to her "Ok were do you want to go this time?" he asks. She hops down the steps "The Church! I need new flowers the ones I have are dieing" she replies "Church? Flowers?" Alex questions. Cloud stands, walks to fenrir, and sits on it. Marlene climbs on sitting were she did the last time they road "It'd kind of hard to explain" he answers "Why don't you come with us? Then you can see for yourself!" Marlene invites "No it's ok you guys go" she declines "Please Alex?" Marlene pleads puckering her lower lip. Alex was finding hard to say no to that face "If Cloud's ok with it" she says moving her eyes to him. He smiles "Come on" he says turning the ignition. She jumps on " You both hold on tight" he says Marlene grips the middle of the handle bars, Alex holds him , they speed off. He takes them out of the city. Alex realizes their heading for Midgar ruins. He drives threw an opening that was probably left in its destruction. Its design was much different then Edge city its structure was dome shaped some of its walls were still intact and rows up blocking some of the sky it seemed more congested like the buildings were stacked in layers at one point. He goes a lil further stops and shuts down fenrir. "This is it" he informs her. Looking forward, a church that was virtually untouched stood before them. Marlene gets off "I'm going in" she tells them and runs ahead, slipping threw its doors. Cloud throws down the kickstand, Alex slowly slides off and steps a few feet staring at it. Cloud goes in front of her, he thinks she is next to him but notices she's not. He pivots back and sees her in a daze "Alex" he calls to her she blinks a few times and turns to him. She starts to move to the doors ,they enter.

As well as the building held up on the outside the inside was a different story. All of the pews were crushed or broken. The walls were crumbling, the roof had a large gaping hole and most of the windows were smashed. The floor was cut out and poking threw were flowers. The sun rays shined down from the roof, Marlene was crouched facing them humming. Alex felt some what at peace the air was thin and clear she got the feeling that her presence welcomed and starts to receive images. It wasn't like the episodes she's had. She could breathe freely and hear. She could also see along with it "This is were you met her" she lets out, Cloud is speechless "It wasn't the first time though before here you bought a flower off of her on the street that you later gave to Marlene" she adds. She walks to the flowers, stops halfway, and looks up "You fell threw the roof and landed on the flowers she was standing were Marlene is now" she continues staring at Marlene " You talked for a while then they came for her" she says facing the doors. "She hired you as a body guard but she didn't have any Gil to pay you so she exchanged you're services for a date instead" she adds smiling, Cloud partially smiles with her. "You took her home but she ended up coming with you anyways…and she really did wear all pink" she finishes with a giggle. Cloud was in disbelief, she knew everything just by being in there. He comes up from behind her "How do you know all of this?" he questions Alex turns to him " She's showing me she wants me to know… I can almost feel her" she answers. "You're one unique individual you know that?" he half whispers, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek "Right back at ya" she says with a big wide smile. Cloud suddenly drops his head down Marlene was holding his hand, flowers in the other. "Ok I have what I need lets go" she says, Cloud shakes his head, Alex puts her hand over her mouth but her laughter spills threw. They leave together, get on fenrir, and make way for the city.

Pulling up to the bar, Marlene steps down and runs inside. Cloud and Alex climb off and stand next to it. Alex lets out a loud yawn "You should get some rest" he tells her "No I'm fine" she says. He steps over, facing her "Alex starting tomorrow their maybe times were we don't sleep for days you need to get as much as you can now you can use my room" he insists. Alex thought that he did have a point. It might take countless hours to find Carnak and when they eventually do it definitely wont take one day to stop him and his 'army'. "Ok but what about you?" she says "I'll be there soon" he replies holding her chin. She smiles, nods, and goes to his room. She closes the door, crawls into the bed, and pulls the covers on to her. She sinks her face into the pillow, it's smell was a mixture of leather, metal, exhaust fumes, and a hint of shampoo. The combination was enticing it was just enough of each scent. She gets comfortable and shuts her eyes.

Wind whips a few strands of hair on to Alex's face tickling her, causing her to wake. She can feel dirt in between her fingers. She lifts her head up, she's not in Cloud's room. "That's weird how did I get outside?" she thought. She gets up and walks a lil. She comes from behind a rock wall an looks out. Midgar is just ahead and Edge city is beyond that, it dawns on Alex that she's on the cliffs. "I don't understand" she quietly says to herself. She hears a noise, turning around there stood the man in black that she has seen a few times before. He stares her down with his menacing green eyes. A smile slowly formed on the right side of his mouth. His sword materializes into his hand and he swings it at her face, the glimmer from the blade blinds her. She jerks up while letting out a yelp. Panting and sweating she quickly scans around, she's back in Cloud's room, him sleeping right next to her. She flings her legs over, putting her feet on the floor. This dream was the scariest she's had by far. She's not sure if they are in fact just dreams or visions. Cloud opens his eyes and sees Alex's is up the look on her face concerned him. "What's wrong?" he asks sitting up Alex shifts her eyes to him she didn't know whether or not she should say anything. It's possible that they mean anything and she didn't want to make him worry. " Nothing… just a bad dream" she lies, he gripes her shoulder "Come on" he says waving with his other hand. He lays on his back, she scoots onto his chest. He reaches one arm around and holds her. A few seconds later, he was out. It took Alex a lot longer to go back to sleep but eventually does.

Everyone was up early saying their good byes. Cloud took off on fenrir for the ship, the group met with him later in the bridge. They gather at the 'meeting' area including Alex. "So what now?" Nanaki questions "Everyone one we've talk te' says there in the marshlands so its obvious we should start there" Barret answers " Yea but isn't that a lil risky going in there blind? We don't know exactly what were facing we need to think about this more" Tifa lets out "The time for thinking is over we need to take action the longer we wait the stronger him and his followers get" Cloud says "Do you hear yourself? If we go in there now we don't stand a chance it would be a slaughter on our side" Tifa replies "Tifa we don't have a choice" Cloud says. They begin to argue. Alex thought that both of them had point they can't go in and hope for the best and they also can't sit around and wait anymore an idea pops into her head. "Hey what if we go in under the radar?" she says. This makes them stop and focus on her "What do you mean?" Nanaki questions "Well if they are based there it's possible they don't know that we know and they don't know how to find us if they did an attack would of happened already so we may have the advantage over them in that aspect if we can get inside with out being noticed we can find out for ourselves what's really going on and decide how to handle it from there" she explains. Everyone was surprised, Cloud the most, they thought it was a good strategy. He smiles at her "Not bad" he compliments she smiles back. "Cid get us to Corel we'll leave the ship there" he orders.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Of course you can leave the Oshera here it's the least we can do for everything you all have done for Corel don't worry she's in good hands" Odie accepts. Everyone was outside talking to him; Alex was in her room trying to figure out what to take with her. She knew that they would be gone for a while and wanted to make sure she packed everything she might possibly need. She was told that it can be very hot during the day in the marshlands then can get extremely cold at night, she had to pack smart. Using one of her big bags, she throws in a couple of pairs of shorts, tanks, spaghetti strap tops, and even a few skirts. Opening her top drawer of her beauru, she gathers underwear and socks, she buries them under her clothes. She then thinks about hygiene and shoves everything having to do with that in her bag. "There's now way I am going to stink like ass on this trip" she thought. The last thing to pack was her boots, she slipped on sneaker like shoes so she wouldn't get blisters on her feet. Since it wasn't hot at the moment, she dresses in her capris and a yellow T-shirt. "Oops almost forgot these" she says to herself grabbing the griffins. She Straps those to her arms instead of her legs. Now all set, she joins the group. She steps down the ramp and goes over to Yuffie "Geez took you long enough" she says "Yea sorry but I had to make sure I brought everything I needed" Alex replies. Yuffie looks at her bag and pokes it "How the hell are going to be able to carry this and walk at the same time?" she questions. "I had three of these and traveled for a week one is gonna be no problem" Alex laughs. Cloud comes out with his sword in fused form on his shoulder and faces them "Ok everyone stay together they could be anywhere keep you're eyes and ears peeled and no going off on your own" he says staring at Alex. She scratches her head and giggles awkwardly. "Let's go" he orders. They begin to move together, Alex was in between Tifa and Yuffie with boys scattered all around. "So how far are the marshlands from here?" Alex asks "If we keep at a good pace we should get there in about two days" Tifa replies "Then it might be another two or three days till we find them" Vincent adds "What about food? Judging by what you're saying we'll probably be gone about a week" Alex says concerned "Not to worry Yuffie has something for that" Nanaki says. "Huh?" Alex says, Yuffie pulls out a bottle with black pills filled to the top. "Just let me know when your hungry and I'll give ya one!" she shouts with a smile. Alex stares at her blankly "What are those appetite suppressers?" she questions "Actually the exact opposite these are made from a plant that only grows in Wutai you take one when your hungry and it takes the place of a meal it has all the same nutrients you get from eating" she answers, putting them back in her pocket. "Wow that's pretty cool Yuffie" Alex compliments "I know" she says with a big smile. Alex laughs as they continued on.

A day later, Alex could tell they were getting close to the marshlands. Every mile or so they traveled the temperature seemed to climb a degree. She switched into her black shorts and purple spaghetti strap. She moved the griffins to her legs freeing her arms. "Hey Yuffie can I have one of those pills please?" She asks with her stomach growling "Sure!" Yuffie yells, taking one out of the bottle putting it in Alex's hand, she swallows it. "You're a pig you've eaten like five of these already" Yuffie jokes shaking the bottle. Alex playfully glares at her "That's only my second one damn it" she cusses. The rest of the group laughs listening to them "Yuffie give her a break" Barret says arms folded. "I know but still at the rate she's going we wont have any for ourselves!" she replies "You have enough for all of us Yuffie if she gets hungry just give her one" Cloud snaps standing next to her "Alright geez I was just kidding anyways" she mumbles. He looks at Alex and smiles, she does the same. They all go on; trudging threw high grass with mountains on either side. A forest lay out in the distance, Cloud wanted to get in there before dark. He makes them stop at the tree line "Everyone be careful for all we know they could be patrolling the surrounding areas" he orders. They all nod in agreement and follow him in. Being in there made Alex remember when she was by herself. It seemed so long ago and at that time, she didn't have a plan for anything. But now she has friends with her it gave her a good feeling. It was almost dusk Alex was starting to not be able to see in front of her very well. She trips on a rock and falls rolling down a hill. Everyone heard her scream as she tumbled. She stops face down in the dirt. They all run to her side "Alex are you ok?" Tifa yells "Yea just like old times" she grumbles sitting up "That was a nasty fall are you sure your alright?" Nanaki asks "Yea at least this time I'm not bleeding" she replies. Cloud grabs her by her arms and lifts her up "How many times do I have to say be careful before you listen?" he yells "Hey it's not like I do it on purpose!" she snaps wiping herself off. He places his hand on her head, she glances up at him. "I'm sorry I know you don't are you ok?" he says, Alex couldn't stay mad at him "Yea I'm fine" she replies with a half smile. He rubs her head violently she tries to push him off but he puts her in a headlock, she pinches his side he lets go, them laughing the whole time. "Hey look!" Yuffie shouts, heads turn. A good-sized lake sat in the middle of the forest the surface glistened as the sun set. Tifa, Yuffie, and Nanaki immediately jump in Vincent sat under a tree and put his head down. "Were gonna get fire wood" Barret informs Cid goes with him. Cloud and Alex watched as the others swam laughing at Nanaki's doggie paddle. "You're not going in?" he asks her "I don't want to leave you by yourself" she answers "I'll be fine go ahead" he says "You sure?" she replies looking up at him, he moves his eyes to her "Yea go" he insists smiling, she drops her bag. Luckily, she had her bikini top on, she lifts her shirt up over her head and tosses it on top of her bag. She kicks of her shoes and stuffs her socks in them. She got the feeling she was being stared at, she jerks her head to Cloud. She noticed he was looking at her chest she peers downward then back to him "What?" she asks him. He shakes his head "Nothing" he replies, she smiles and jumps in the water.

After a few hours, a fire was lit on shore. Everyone was gathered around, those who swam sat closer to dry off. "Man I'm beat" Yuffie yawns "Me too I can barely keep my eyes open" Tifa agrees "Get some sleep everybody tomorrow is gonna be a long day" Cloud tells them. He lays on his back and closes his eyes. Alex could see him from were she was laying down. She wanted so badly to crawl over to him and feel his body up against hers. However, she knew that he had a lot on his mind and making an awkward scene in front of the group probably wouldn't help. Everyone was now sleeping Yuffie and Cid were snoring loudly, Tifa was in between them, Nanaki and Vincent were under the same tree, and Barret was up against a rock. Alex lifted her head up to the sky the moon was crescent shaped and only a few stars shown threw. Her eyes start to droop she curls up and shuts them.

Alex wakes up a few hours later. It was very dark out and everyone was still asleep. She hears a loud sound come from the lake. She was a bit groggy and couldn't make out what it was. She rubs her face for a few seconds and waits. She hears it again, this time it sounded more like a splash. She gets up and hides in some bushes she scans the water and sees a dark figure swimming around not far from were she stood. She remained quiet, upon further assessment, she realizes it's a person and they were coming closer to her. She kept her focus on them trying to stay hidden. They dive under the water and come back up facing her direction. She checks them out, they're eyes glowed in what little light the moon gave off. Her mouth drops there's only one person she knows whose eyes were like that "Cloud?" she whispers softly. He continued to swim popping up in different places. Alex smiles watching him "Not a swimmer huh?" she thought. She quietly maneuvers her body out of the bushes and sneaks to a spot were it was flat and mostly rock, making a seat on the edge of the water. She sits half Indian style her arms around the leg that was propped up and looks on. He dove under a few more times, stood up, and rubbed his shoulder, he had this expression on his face like he was in deep thought. "So you either lied or you're a shy swimmer" he hears from shore. He turns his body quickly to find Alex looking at him smiling. "Crap" he says faintly "Which one is it?" she asks "A lil of both I guess" he replies walking over "How so?" she questions "It's a long story" he answers now standing just in front of her. Alex's eyes widen, she couldn't see him very well before but now she had a good view, he was shirtless and wet his whole body gleamed under the night sky. His hair although still spiky, the water flattened some of them covering part of his face. She starts to flush and turns her head towards the camp. "We've got time" she says, he pauses for a minute "Besides Tifa I didn't have friends growing up they all thought I was weird and didn't want me around there's a lake not far from Neiblhiem every summer the kids from town would go there I followed and watched them laugh smile splash each other and play water games it looked like fun I wanted to join in with them when I tried they started to throw rocks at me and told me to go away I didn't try again after that so I swam by myself at night when no one was around I guess you could say I developed a type of phobia from it" he explained. Alex's heart was wrenched "You poor thing I'm sorry they did that to you" she says looking at him "It's alright kids sometimes don't know any better" he replies. He squats down his whole body submerges he comes back up a lil closer to her. He shakes his hair and wipes the water from his face. "How far are the marshlands?" she asks "About two miles the woods turn into swamp that's when walking gets tricky" he replies "How do you know?" she questions "Had to for Shinra I needed to memorize the land layouts and distances between one area from another and not to mention the different types of terrain" he answers scratching his arm "Well I guess we have Shinra to thank for that" she says giggling, he chuckles with her. "Cloud I'm scared" she blurts out, he tilts his head "I have been trying to put on a brave face but I can't help it I'm afraid of what may happen going into this" she adds "It's ok to be Alex everyone gets scared no matter how strong they are" he states " Even you?" she asks "Yea" he replies "What scares you?" she questions. He hangs his head "Death" he answers "It's not the dieing part that I'm afraid of it's what happens next" he adds "Next?" she says "When the time comes what will happen to my soul? Will it disappear or merge with the life stream? What's waiting for me on the other side? If anything I'd like to think that the planet would let it stay so I can look after the people I care about" he replies. Alex was so moved by his words he didn't care what happened to his body he cared about were his spirit will go. Even when his physical self is gone he wants his soul to continue on like his work wont be finished he doesn't want his death to be the end of his story. "Well you don't have to worry about that for a while" she says smiling "Lets hope" he says smiling back. Alex wanted to change the subject she didn't want to think about him dieing. She has an idea "Is it everyone or is it just certain people?" she questions Cloud makes a confused face at her "What?" he asks "Swimming" she replies " Everyone why do you ask?" he says "There's a tactic in my world" she starts as she takes off her shoes and socks "In order to overcome you're phobias" she adds, while taking off her shirt now in just her shorts and bikini top " You face them head on" she continues putting her feet in the water still sitting "And when someone you trust helps you get over it that much faster" she finishes. Cloud is beginning to get nervous he wanted to get out of the water. "How old were you when that happened?" she questions, he takes a few breathes "Seven" he answers "Did they do this to you you're whole life?" she asks "No not long after I left for Shinra" he replies "I'm glad that you were able to get away from it" she says, looking at her feet under the water. Cloud saw her smile flip he remembered she also had a hard time growing up "Did you get away from it?" he questions, she raises her head "Huh?" she says "I recall you telling me you had problems when you were younger I'm just wondering when it finally stopped" he replies "It didn't" she says. She slips into the water leaning her back and arms on the rock "The teasing started when I was very young it escalated as I got older" she adds "Why?" he asks " Like I said I wasn't like everyone else looks are everything were I'm from if you don't have it then you're considered ugly or a freak I can't count how many times I've been called that or worse plus the fights I would get into a lot of the time I was out numbered and would get beaten pretty bad so all I could do at that point was cry and it seemed to fuel them to do it more finally I had to stop myself from crying and shut down completely I didn't want to show them any more that it upset me after that I never cried even when I should have as a result of all of this I didn't let anyone get close to me it was bad enough I would get hurt physically emotionally would have ruined me so I kept myself distant it was very lonely I put all of my focus on work so I wouldn't have to think about it for the longest time I thought it was me that there was something wrong with me that maybe I deserved it and had it coming" she replies walking closer to him. Cloud now has an understanding of why Alex is the way she is. When she is complemented she sometimes brushes it off or becomes shy and quiet. She wasn't being rude it was because she wasn't to used to it and he remembered when they were on the deck while he was holding her. He thought that must have been the first in a while that she cried. "Is that you're phobia? Getting close to people?" he questions "Yea but since being here I slowly have been coming out of it" she answers now standing with him "Well maybe one day I'll get over mine" he says. Alex smiles from ear to ear "You already did look" she says turning back to the rock. Cloud is shocked he was so engaged in their conversation that he didn't notice she was in the water with him. "Well what do ya know" he says glancing over at her. She laughs, dives under, and pops up behind him. She pushes her hair from her face and opens her eyes to find Cloud right in front of her. "You're wrong you know you didn't deserve any of that and there is nothing wrong with you you're fine just the way you are" he says Alex doesn't say anything "It sounds like to me that the reason they acted like that was because they were jealous" he adds, Alex gave him a odd look "What do you mean?" she asks "Think about it everyone in your world resembles someone else and so on and then there's you who broke that it angered them that you had this difference that they couldn't have it wasn't hatred that you felt it was envy they wished they looked like you because you are beautiful" he replies. Alex's heart begins to race "Really?" she quivers, he puts his hands on her cheeks "Yea I thought that the moment we first met then I got to know you and the more beautiful you became" he says. Out of all the complements she has received this was by far the best and most believable. "Thanks" she whispers "No problem" he whispers back, he presses his lips against hers. Alex wasn't in the least bit nervous she places one hand on his chest kissing him back, this time around it had a lot more heat. He pulls her closer, both her hands now on his chest, his hands moved down to her neck. _Alex gets that feeling again, her eyes open she jerks away from him not being able to breathe._ He grabs her "What's wrong!" he yells, he knows now she's having an episode. To keep her from drowning, he picks her up and brings her to shore. He puts her down and sits next to her holding her head, all he can do is wait it out. She finally comes to and looks around "What was it?" he questions "Cloud were not alone were being watched" she answers "Where?" he asks searching, "Behind us" she replies. Cloud gets up and stands just at the bush line, he didn't think they would be found. He also didn't expect to have to fight Carnak and his men so soon. A blue energy seeps out of his arm "We found you!" is yelled as two dark out lines of a people peek out of the bushes. Cloud raises his arm, the light it was giving off lit up the area "No Cloud don't it's us!" is screamed. Cloud stops and lowers his arm, the energy dissipates. "Reno? Rude!" Cloud shouts, they walk closer showing themselves. "Hey Cloud didn't think we'd find you guys out here" Reno says, Cloud turns to Alex "Alex go to the fire" he orders. She didn't know his reasoning but she listens and heads for camp. "Do you realize I could of killed you both!" Cloud screams at them "Yes but the point is that you didn't" Reno replies. Cloud shakes his head and puts his fingers on the corner of his eyes. "Now let me ask you something what were you and hottie doing swimming by yourselves in the middle of the night?" Reno asks, Cloud fiercely glares at him. Reno gets excited " No way you and her? You dog I didn't think you had it in ya do the others know? Well at least that's good cuz I wondered and I don't blame you cuz if you didn't I would have that is one fine woman you got there…" Cloud made a fist listening to him babble on and on. He reaches and grabs Reno's shirt lifting him up off the ground "You talk about her like that again I'll rearrange your face and its none of their business when we want them to know we'll tell them" he threatens "Ok ok! I'm sorry" Reno apologizes. Rude puts his head in his hand, Cloud lets go. "Keeping it a secret huh? Doesn't that go against your number one rule?" Reno remarks, Cloud get's mad "What are you doing here any way?" he snaps "We've been watching Carnak and his followers we found his base its inside a mountain with the marshlands surrounding it there are guards at every entrance except one it's possible they don't know about it" Rude says "Where?" Cloud asks "Our intention once we discovered this was to inform you so we left markers to guide you when you leave here head east they have people patrolling the marsh if you try to cut threw you'll surely be caught its best to go around the path though is kind of extreme" Rude replies "We can handle it you guys go and see if you can find anything else out we're leaving in the morning" Cloud orders.

The group walked in a line, Reno and Rude's markers led them to the other side of the mountains. Alex left her bag with them taking only what she could carry. They promised her they would bring it back in the ship for her. "Strange how they were being overly nice to me though" she thought. Hours later, now climbing rocks on a mountain face it was obvious that everyone was tired "How much further is it? My feet are killing me" Yuffie groans "That's what ya get fur not wearin' the right shoes" Cid says "I have pads and my feet hurt" Nanaki adds "I'm fine" Vincent says, zipping past them meeting up with Cloud. "Show off!" Yuffie shouts, her voice echoes. "Yuffie keep it down would ya don't need them to find us ya know" Barret says to her "I agree the quieter we are the better and my feet hurt to" Tifa says "I see it not much further" Cloud informs. They make it to a flat area were they can all rest. To the right of them was the entrance, a red X was spray panted on the side of it. "Lets take a break we need all the energy we can get" Cloud says sitting on the ground. They didn't need permission they were already relaxing "Finally" Yuffie says flopping on the ground, Alex walked to her "You ok?" she asks "Yea…wait? how is it that you not tired like us?" she questions "Your forgetting I did this none stop for a week and I'm in pretty good shape" she answers "Plus I've learned a thing or two when it comes to the change in altitude" she adds, smiling at Cloud. She used what he taught her from Medeohiem. His hand under his chin, he sees her looking at him and smiles back. "Well good for you" Yuffie says sarcastic "Here I thought I would have te' carry ya butt most of the way" Cid jokes smoking "Looks like I'll be the one carrying you instead" Alex says, laughter left all of their mouths even Vincent's. "Have room for me?" Yuffie whines, Alex smiles and laughs louder "I might have to drag you" she says "That's fine I'll take what I can get" she replies.

The next half hour was just talking about who would carry who back to the ship. Cloud decides it's time to head in "Let's go" he says standing up "Oh geez already?" Yuffie cries "It's time to get this under way" he says at the entrance. They surround him "Everyone be on your guard we don't know what we may encounter in here" he says they nod and proceed. "Its so dark in here I can't see…ow!" Yuffie says "Man do ya ever shut up?" Barret says "Hey I can't help it if I don't have eyes like Nanaki" Yuffie replies "She's right I can see perfectly fine" Nanaki gloats "Were are you? So I can hold on I don't want to fall into a hole" Yuffie says "Would it be a bad thing if yeh' did?" Cid says with a chuckle "Any one see any holes?" Barret adds "That's mean you would leave me here?" she shouts "Nah we'd come back fur ya in a week or two" Cid replies. Alex couldn't help but laugh listening to them. Cloud's arm once again is engulfed in the blue energy making walking easier, he turns to them "Would you all shut the hell up? What part of sneaking in do you not understand? At this rate we might as well throw a parade for them announcing our arrival" he says angrily. They immediately fall silent Cloud takes Alex's hand and walks on. Tifa seeing this smiles. They go threw a series of tunnels that finally led them to the exit it was bright enough were Cloud didn't need his arm any more. Looking out, they were high up in a hallway "No wonder they didn't know about this" Vincent says "Come on" Cloud orders, grabbing Alex around her waist then jumping down, one after another they follow. "We're gonna have to split up Alex Tifa your with me the rest of you take that direction call if you find anything or run into trouble" Cloud orders They brake off, Cloud, Tifa, and Alex rush down the opposite way the others went. Every so often they would hide in a room or behind something just in case. The hallway spills out into a large room with high ceilings. Up against a wall, were two identical tubes with places for the arms to go, the controls were at the sides. "Cloud what is this?" Alex asks "I have no idea" he replies . The three of them stood facing it "Do you think this is what the mako and materia are for?" Tifa questions "It's possible" he answers examining it. _Alex has a flash in her mind of people approaching from one of the other halls._ "Someone's coming" she warns "Hide" Cloud says ducking into a crevice a few feet from the tubes. Tifa pulls Alex behind some piping. A man in red with a hand full of the people in blue show up stopping at the tubes. Cloud can hear what is being said "Is everything as it should be?" the man in red questions "Yes sir the scientists completed their tests" a man in blue answers "And when brought to it's final location it will work accordingly?" the man in red continues "Yes sir they are confident it will be 100% effective" the same man in blue answers "Has he been informed?" the man in red questions "Yes sir just a moment ago" another man in blue replies "Good" he says.

"Hands up" is heard loudly, Tifa and Alex see that Cloud was found out. "Oh no" Alex whispers. Cloud is grabbed and escorted over. The man in red walks to him "Ah and what do we have here?" he says . Cloud recognizes him it was the same man that he met in Medeohiem. "Well well… Cloud strife I presume? We meet again I see" he says "Carnak right?" Cloud asks "In the flesh I must say I am impressed you made it in here undetected coming here alone was not a wise decision though but given what I've heard about you I'm not in the least bit surprised" he replies "What is it you want?" Cloud questions "Me? Who said this has anything to do with me? Its what he wants that matters" Carnak answers. Cloud remembers the beach, on the coast when Alex and him were attacked the leader said same thing "Who is this he?" Cloud questions "Now now all in do time I'm curious though as to what you thought you were going to do once you got in here…no matter your to late preparations are just about at completion once we have the missing piece it will finally be over" Carnak answers "Missing piece what is that exactly?" Cloud asks. Carnak laughs for a minute "I'm speechless that you haven't figured it out already or that is hasn't been seen yet" he replies. "This isn't good" Tifa whispers "There's gotta be something we can do" Alex says "If we try to attack it will be pointless others will come in a matter of minutes we have to go and tell the others" Tifa replies "But.." Tifa cuts her off "It's what he would want us to do" she says. Alex is discouraged she didn't want to go with out him. She sees one of the pipes she was next to had the words 'Caution Steam' written on the side. It flowed all the way down to were they were standing "Tifa I have a plan" she says going past her, Tifa grasps her arm "Are you crazy?" she whispers "I know how to free him but I need you're help just trust me" Alex pleads, Tifa nods and follows her. "I don't know what it is that you're trying to achieve but It's not going to work" Cloud tells him "Oh? I hate to be the barer of bad news but it has already begun" Carnak says "Even so you wont finish it" Cloud says glaring at him. Carnak lets out an eerie laugh "And who I might ask will stop us? You? Against an entire army? My dear boy you are not that strong" Carnak replies "I never said I was alone" Cloud remarks.

Alex slices the pipe, steam pours out around them "Tifa now!" she screams. Tifa knocks out a few of the men pulling Cloud to a different hallway, Alex catches up to them. They run as fast as they can darting down other hallways trying to find a way out. A loud buzzing sounds screams threw speakers. _Passing by a blank wall, Alex has a vision that stops her in her tracks. She is being shown another room next to her with a type of button that opens it. _Tifa and Cloud notice she's not with them and look to her "Alex what are you doing lets go!" Cloud yells "Wait you guys" she says pressing on different areas of the wall "We don't have time for this!" Tifa screams. Alex finds the button, the walls split revealing a room. "Come on it will close as soon as we go in!" Alex tells them, They go with her. The walls close, they now sat in darkness. "Don't worry they don't know about this" Alex informs them. Cloud uses his arm to light up the area. They sit and relax "How did you know this was here?" Tifa questions "Easy I saw it" Alex answers "By the way thanks Tifa" Cloud says "Don't give all the credit to me it was her idea" she replies. Cloud stares at her "Really? Nice job" he complements "Eh it was nothing" Alex says smiling.

Just then, a purplish pink glow shined brighter than Cloud's light showing a path leading to it "What is that?" Tifa asks "I'm not sure" Cloud answers. Alex gets up and runs to it "Wait Alex!" they shout to her. They find her standing in front of it in another room. The light was coming from an orb that sat on a stand. "Alex do you know what this is?" Cloud asks "Not really I had dreams about it for a few weeks before I came here" she replies. She reaches to touch it, Cloud grabs her hand and stops her "I don't think you should" he says "It's ok Cloud" she insists, he lets go. She places her hand on it. More light shoots out creating a wind, it dims down "I've been waiting for you Alexihona" a soft woman's voice is heard "Who said that?" Tifa questions. The light forms into a woman's face above the orb "My name is Yazline I am a servant of the planet" she informs "How do you know me?" Alex questions "I've known you since before you were born" Yazline answers "I don't understand" Alex says confused. "The planet certainly chose the right person" Yazline continues "What do you mean!" Alex shouts. "Have you wondered why you didn't fit in that world? Did you ever feel like something was off? The answer is simple you're mother was given the same ability as you by the planet" she starts. "My mother?" Alex whispers "When you were born she had a terrible vision of what you're life was to be people would soon learn of your power and seek it eventually getting what they wanted you would be imprisoned and forced to give in to their demands until your last breathe you're mother didn't want that for you she wanted you to live freely and grow up the planet took it upon its self to show her how to save you the planet needed you alive for the events that are taking place at this very moment she used all of her power to forge a clock that would one day allow you to come back and save this world the place of your birth it was here of witch you were born not that other world you have come to know as you're home" she explains "What?" Alex says shocked, Cloud and Tifa can't say a thing their at loss for words. "As an end result you're mother gave her life for yours but before she died she was able to leave you with a family she knew would love and care for you the in the same manner as she would with a note that read 'Alexihona' and under it 'bright star' your full name is Alexihona Astrum Alexihona is an old name meaning bright given to you because of the way your eyes shined right after you were born" she added. "Astrum means star" Alex blurts out "Correct the power that flows inside of you was given to you by the planet to one day protect it and the life that lives on it everything that has happened up to now was inevitable" she continued. Alex was shaking, her hands into fists, her knuckles white "So you mean to tell me that everything this I was told… that my life was a lie? And all the shit I went threw as a kid…it was all part of the plan!" She screams, Cloud and Tifa run to her side. "I am sorry for that But you have to understand if your mother hadn't done what she did you wouldn't be here right now" Yazline finishes. Alex drops to her knees, her head buried in her hands "Alex" Cloud whispers to her putting his hands on her shoulders, he could hear her crying. "Who am I?" Alex muffles threw her hands "You are Alexihona Astrum born from this world chosen by the planet as it's protector that is who you are" Yazline says, Alex looks at Yazline she lets everything sink in. She thought she would be more upset but actually she was relieved. For a while now, it started to feel like this world was her home. It was tough going at first but with the help of her friends she didn't go threw it alone. Thinking about them made it easier to accept. "Yazline? What was my mother's name? "she asks "Aurora" Yazline replies, Alex smiles "Morning star" she says standing "You let the planet know I'm on it" she says, Yazline smiles and nods. A wall opens behind her "This will lead you out good luck Alexihona" she says "Thank you" Alex replies "Come on" she yells running ahead, Cloud and Tifa go after her.

It didn't take long to reach outside, they were on a large cliff, the forest was a few miles away. "Alex are you ok?" Tifa questions "Don't worry about that right now we have to find the others and get out of here" Alex answers "I'll call Yuffie" Cloud says dialing on his phone as he waited. A ringing sound was echoing, it came closer. Suddenly, Yuffie comes out from the other side of the mountain "Help me!" she screams, a large beast with long fangs and a tail is chasing her. Cloud pushes Alex up against the rock wall "Stay here" he orders. He runs over to help Yuffie, Tifa accompanies him. The others now emerge fighting other strange creatures. Vincent was shooting two at once, Barret was giving him a hand. Tifa was kicking the crap out of a weird green worm looking thing. Yuffie managed to get away from the biggest one, leaving it to Cloud. She and Nanaki tackled two much smaller ones. While this was going on some rocks trickled down on top of Alex, she looks up, another creature was just above her climbing the rocks. It jumps down almost landing on her. She makes a break for it trying to run to the group. It swipes her feet making her fall in a crater left behind by the larger creature. On her back, it's now hovering over her, it lunges at her, she rolls on one side dodging it. It presses one of its claw on her so she doesn't move, it lunges once more it's teethe baring down on her.

Vincent stands on one of the creatures he was fighting and shoots it in the head. Yuffie stabs her weapon a few times in one she had been fighting. Tifa kicks another off the cliff it roared as it went down. The largest beast collapses Cloud lands on the ground in front of it sheathing his sword. Everyone goes to him "Are you guys ok?" he asks them "Yep" Cid says "Of course!" Yuffie smiles jumping. Vincent and Barret nod. "Wait where's Alex?" Cloud asks "Wasn't she with you?" Nanaki replies "I left her were we came out you guys didn't see her?" he says. They Look at each other not saying anything. Cloud rushes to were he last saw her. The group was frantically running around calling her name, no answer was heard. They come together "Were is she?" Yuffie asks, Cloud comes to a conclusion "They must of taken her" he says falling to his knees "Damn it!" he screams punching the ground, Tifa sits with him. "Oh no Alex" Yuffie says sadly "I should've known I could have stopped them" he says, his fingers over his eyes "We'll get her back Cloud" Tifa says confidently. A creatures body next to them started to wiggle "Ew! It's moving! Yuffie screeches. They prepared for it to attack but a hand instead pops out from underneath. Yuffie automatically sees the knife that was clenched in it. "HEY! That's one of Alex's griffins! " she yells pointing to it "Help me move this" Cloud asks everyone rolls the body over, Alex drops out of its mouth. Cloud holds her head up "Alex!" he says shaking her. Her eyes open a lil "Hey Cloud" she says, a sigh of relief comes out him. She sits up "Yay you're ok!" Yuffie says excited "Yea thanks to your advice" she says to Cloud. He doesn't know what she means until he looks at her hands. The blades were facing down, the blunt part along her arm. Blood from the creature covered them "So you were listening" he chuckles, she smiles. "We should get moving more are likely to come soon" Nanaki says "I'll call Reno and Rude see if their close by" Cloud says dialing on his phone. Alex stands up, shakes off her knives, puts them away, and walks to the edge of the cliff were Cloud, Tifa, and her came out of. "They'll be here in a few minutes" she hears Cloud say. She watched the horizon and thought about everything Yazline told her. The old Alex was now gone, she was left her in the other world. A new refurbished Alex now took her place. This world was her home now if the planet did choose her then it was her duty to up hold it if she didn't who would.

Something floats down in front of her face, she catches it and opens her hand. "A black feather?" she says to herself. A memory comes back, it was the warning from Audette. She turns around her nightmares had come true. Before her was the mysterious man in black with white hair ,she was so frightened she couldn't call out. He smiles at her then out of no where his sword flies up from below her slashing her face. All she sees is the glare from it and blacks out, dropping on the ground laying on her stomach. Cloud also saw the glare out of the corner of his eye and jerks to it, he sees Alex on the ground. He leaps over, pulls out his sword, and thrust it. The other man stops him, their swords pinned together, Cloud's eyes widen "Sephiroth!" he shouts. "Long time no see Cloud" Sephiroth replies. The group go to aid Alex, Tifa rolls her on to her back. Blood covered the whole right side of her face and continued to drip out. Reno and Rude's helicopter flies to them "Barret take her" Tifa says, Barret scoops her up and jumps on, the others did as well. Yuffie throws a couple of smoke bombs and grabs Cloud taking off on the helicopter. Now at the ship, they all waited in the bridge, Tifa comes in "I managed to stop the bleeding I used up a lot of potions but its not healing properly its going to leave a scar" she says.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Alex has been unconscious for two days now not moving an inch. Tifa and Yuffie were taking care of her round the clock. Cloud didn't leave her side he took one of the chairs from the 'meeting' area and put it next to her bed. The right side of her face was bandaged up, it also covered her right eye. The door opens, Tifa comes in, she goes over to Alex and peeks at her wound. She finishes and stands at the chair.

"Cloud you've been at this for the past two days why don't you get some sleep I can watch her" Tifa offers.

"I wanna be here when she wakes up" he tells her. Tifa smiles at him and rubs his shoulder.

"I'll check her again in a while" she says.

He turns his head to her hand then back to Alex. Tifa leaves and meets up with the rest of the group in the bridge. They all stand up as she enters.

"Is she awake yet?" Yuffie questions, Tifa shakes her head.

"I hope she's gonna be ok" Barret says.

"So Tifa tell us you said y'all ran into something while in the base?" Cid questions.

"Yea it was one of the planets servants she told us that Alex is originally from here and that the planet gave her the ability she has her mother also had this power and used it to send her to the other world to ensure her life she was the one that made the clock so she could come back" Tifa explained.

"Wow so she's from here that's unreal!" Yuffie shouts.

"Come to think of it, it actually makes perfect sense from what she told us she didn't fit in that world at all but she does here how did she handle hearing this?" Nanaki says.

"She was upset at first but quickly recovered I don't think she had time to think about it really" Tifa replies.

"Is he still in there?" Barret questions, Tifa nods.

"Geez he hasn't moved from that spot in days" Yuffie states.

"He's worried about her he can't help it" Tifa says.

Nanaki walks to Vincent and sits at his feet.

"He's grown quite fond of her" Nanaki says.

"We all have" Vincent blurts out. Everyone looks at him dumbfounded.

"Even you?" Tifa asks.

"When she first joined us I didn't care for her much" he starts to say, Yuffie interrupts.

"Well duh I could of told ya that" she says. He glares at her, she shuts her mouth.

"Anyway whenever she saw me she always said hi I never responded but she would do it non the less she yelled at me out of frustration at one point she said all she wanted was to be acknowledge nothing more I've never been confronted like that before I could tell in the sound of her voice that she was being sincere and in the short time she had been with us she came to think of me as friend even though I wouldn't speak to her I watched her work and heard the conversations she'd have with all of you she didn't let me deter her she has always been helpful and kind no matter the circumstance I realized that I didn't give her a fair chance then I started to feel bad for the way I acted towards her" Vincent finishes.

"Awe! You big softy you!" Yuffie yells, jumping on his back, giving him a hug from behind.

"Get off of me" he growls, Yuffie continues to hold on.

"Nope it's to late your getting hugged whether you like it or not" she says, Vincent rolls his eyes.

Everyone laughed but it quickly went quiet.

"It's not the same with out her is it?" Nanaki asks, no one answered.

Cloud dosed off in the chair his head resting on one hand. Alex lifts her left eye slightly, she squinted feeling pain from the wound on her face. She sees Cloud sitting at the side of her bed.

"Cloud" she says just over a whisper. He wakes and looks at her

"Hey you" he greets with a smile, he moves the chair closer.

"Hey" she says.

"How you feeling?" he asks putting, his hand on her head, rubbing her forehead with his thumb.

"Like shit" she laughs, he chuckles with her.

"Why can't I see out of my right eye?" she questions.

"Tifa bandaged it up to protect it in case it bled again" he answers.

"Oh" she says

"How long was I out for?" she asks.

"A few days" he replies.

"No wonder I feel so rested" she jokes, he smiles and laughs a lil.

"Were is everyone?" she questions.

"In the bridge" he answers.

"I'm sorry" she says, his eyebrows shift down.

"For what?" he asks.

"I went off on my own giving him the opportunity what's worse is I saw this coming previously but I thought it was just a dream and I didn't tell you about it I broke two of your rules and this happened because of that" she replies.

"I'm sorry Cloud" she adds, her eye was welling up.

He kisses her forehead then presses his against it. His hand now on her left cheek.

"Screw the rules all I care about is that your safe" he comforts, wiping her eye with his thumb.

"In any case I should be the one saying sorry" he says, Alex is confused.

"Why?" she asks.

"I didn't fulfill my promise" he replies.

She thinks back on the deck when she was in his arms he said to her that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Alex gets the notion that he feels guilty for the state that she's in.

"No that doesn't count I put myself in that position so it over rides it" she says smiling. Cloud didn't wanna dispute her so he just smiles along.

"We have to stop him Cloud what ever it is he's trying to do we can't let him accomplish his goal" she says firmly.

"We will don't you worry about that we're not going to let him carry out his plan he wont get far enough" he replies confidently.

"Good" she smiles.

"But before we save the world I have to pee" she whines. He sits back laughing loudly. "Can you move on your own?" he questions.

"No everything hurts" she answers, whining more.

"I'll get Tifa and Yuffie to help you" he says standing up.

He exits leaving the door open. He steps into the bridge, the group rushes to him.

"She's awake" he informs, them everyone smiled.

"How is she?" Barret asks.

"Groggy and in a lil pain other than that she's ok" he replies.

"She needs you both" he adds, pointing to Tifa and Yuffie.

They immediately leave for their room. Cloud walks to one of the couches and sits rubbing his face with both hands.

"Well that's a relief" Nanaki says.

"What do we do now?" Cid questions.

"We can't do anything until Alex is better we need to go somewhere and lay low for a while" Cloud answers.

"But where?" Vincent asks.

"There's only one place I can think of" Cloud replies.

Tifa and Yuffie held Alex up guiding her down the hall back to their room. She climbs into bed and sits up.

"Thanks guys" she says.

"Happy to do it" Tifa replies smiling.

"It's what friends do!" Yuffie shouts, jumping on her bed.

The ship starts to vibrate.

"That's weird I wonder where we're going?" Tifa says.

"I'll go fine out" Yuffie offers, leaving the room.

Tifa sits with Alex on her bed.

"Can you take some of this off my face? Cuz it itches and not being able to scratch it is driving me crazy" Alex asks, frustrated.

"Sure" Tifa giggles.

She removes most of the bandages leaving a strand that started at the brow line. It traveled down the right side of her nose and stopped near her chin. Her face now free, she scratches vigorously.

"Ah so much better" she says, still scratching.

She finally opens her right eye and blinks it a few times.

"Can you see out of it?" Tifa questions.

Alex looks at her "Yea" she answers.

Tifa lifts her head up to examine it thoroughly. "Everything seems fine" she says.

"Was I really out for two days?" Alex questions, pressing her fingers on some of the bandage.

"Yea Yuffie and I took care of you Cloud barley left the whole time he just sat in here and waited for you to come to" Tifa answers.

"The whole time?" she says it made her smile a lil.

"He's very attached to you and I can tell the feelings are mutual" she states.

Alex didn't have words to say and laughs awkwardly. She knew Tifa would be the first to figure it out. But, she still didn't know what Cloud and her are and if he wanted them to know he would of said something a long time ago.

The door opens "I'm back!" Yuffie yells as she plops on Alex's bed with them.

"Cloud told me we're going to Siren's he said it's the only place were Alex can safely recover" she says.

Alex's face turned pure white she remembered the last time she was there and how awful it was. "I think I'm gonna be sick I need to lay down" she says, falling on to her pillow.

Tifa and Yuffie jump up concerned. "Are you ok?" Tifa asks.

Alex forms her body into the fetal position. "Oh god no" she groans.

Tifa and Yuffie are unsure as to why she suddenly doesn't feel well. "What the hell is wrong? I've never seen her like this before" Yuffie says.

"Are you in pain?" Tifa questions.

"Not right now but I will be" Alex cries, thinking about what Siren might to do her that she didn't get to last time.

"I'm confused" Yuffie remarks.

"Can someone get Cloud please?" Alex pleads.

They both leave and come back with him a few minutes later. He sits with her "What's the matter?" he asks.

Alex sits up "Are we really going to Siren's?" she questions.

"Yea why?" he answers.

Alex's squints her eyes "Its just…I think Morgana's would be a better place" she says.

Cloud gives her a strange look "Why? I thought you liked being at Siren's" he replies.

Alex grabs his shirt and buries her face into his chest "Can we just go there instead please?" is muffled.

Cloud grabs her shoulders and pushes her back a lil making her lift her head up. "Going to Junon right now isn't a good idea and besides Siren knows were coming" he says "Oh god" she whines burying her face again. Cloud places one hand on her back and turns to Tifa and Yuffie one brow lifted.

"Don't ask us we have no clue" Yuffie says.

The ship makes it to Siren's valley landing closer this time to her house. The boys waited outside for the girls.

Siren bolts out from it meeting them "I can't believe you guys are back so soon" she says.

"We didn't have any other options" Barret replies.

"Well what's up?" she asks.

The girls appear next to Cloud. Siren notices the bandage on Alex's face "Whoa you look like hell what happened to you?" she asks.

"We'll explain later right now she needs to lay down" Cloud replies.

Siren leads them into a bedroom closest to the stairs and right across from one of the bathrooms. They put her on the bed and pull the covers on her.

"Get some rest" Cloud says, running his fingers threw her hair.

Alex nods slightly and closes her eyes. Siren not wanting to watch this waits out in the hallway. The others were in the living room. Cloud Comes out and shuts the door behind him.

"So are you going to explain this to me?" she asks.

"Come on" he says going down the stairs, Siren follows right behind.

They all filled Siren in on everything. "Wait a minute you're telling me that she is the one they have been looking for!" She shouts absolutely shocked.

"Afraid so" Nanaki says.

"That's not the only problem" Cloud says, standing up.

"Sephiroth back he was the one behind all of this" he adds.

Siren was in disbelief "Son of a bitch are you sure?" she questions.

"Yep just ask Alex" Cids answers.

"He did that to her? She's lucky to be alive from what I remember Sephiroth isn't someone to be taken lightly it's rare for anyone to survive when crossing his path" Siren states.

Alex heard the conversation. Their voices traveled up the stairs to her room. She thought about when she encountered Sephiroth. If what Siren said was true then she was lucky to be alive. But, something wasn't sitting right in her mind. If Sephiroth never left anyone or anything still breathing while facing him then why was it that he only injured her? Was his aim off? Did he misjudge? This made her head and her wound hurt. She rolls over onto her left side and falls asleep.

She wakes to find Siren inches from her face staring at her. Alex startled sits up, Siren scoots down the bed to Alex's feet.

"Hi" Alex greets unsurely.

"Hi" Siren says in a sort of sarcastic tone.

"So you were face to face with him huh?" she asks.

"Yea" Alex replies.

"Did he say anything to you?" she questioned.

"No" Alex answered. She didn't know why Siren cared.

"He really fucked you up" she laughs.

Alex glared at her, she figured Siren in a weird way must have been happy to see her like this. Siren grinned at her bandages.

"That's a good look for you" she jokes, chuckling to herself.

Alex is now annoyed "What do you want Siren?" she questions angrily.

"Oh I already got what I wanted" she answers.

"What is that exactly?" Alex continued.

"Gratification" she says with a smirk.

"That's what you get for messing with another woman's man" she adds, smiling wider.

Alex became furious. She couldn't' believe that she would say such a thing. "Get the fuck out of my room" she says sternly.

"Excuse me?" Siren says surprised.

"You heard me get out" Alex repeats.

Siren shoots off the bed and stands at the foot of it. "Your forgetting who's house your in" she says cocky.

"And you're forgetting that he doesn't want you" Alex snaps.

Siren eyes were full of rage hearing those words "Oh really? Is that what you think?" she says.

"I don't think I know" Alex replies ,giving her a cold stare.

"Well I know one thing is for sure you're not staying in my house any longer you're ass can sleep in the ship" she states.

She turns about to leave the room. What Siren doesn't know is that Alex has a trump card. "I wonder how Cloud will feel about that" she says.

Siren stops and looks at her "You think I give a shit?" she replies.

"Oh I know you do see what you fail to realize is I'd have to tell him everything that includes when you pointed a knife at me the last time we were here" Alex informs.

Siren squints at her "He wouldn't believe you" she says confident.

"I have no reason to lie but the question is do you wanna risk it?" Alex says, back against the headboard, arms folded.

Siren didn't respond, a worried expression took over on her face.

"Just as I thought here's how its gonna go from now on I don't want to see you unless I have to drop the attitude and stop thinking that Cloud is yours because he's not he has made his decision so deal with it you got that?" she adds. Siren nods, her lips curled.

"Good I'm glad we understand each other now get out" Alex orders.

Siren leaves slamming the door behind her. Alex smiled, it felt great to finally stand up for herself.

"And I was afraid of her" she thought while laughing.

Alex was still tired she wanted to get more sleep. She locks her door as a precaution and gets back into bed.

Three days later, Alex's strength was returning, but the wound still wasn't healing the way it should. She thought it was odd that this injury zapped all of her energy. One good thing out of this is after the altercation with Siren she hasn't had any further problems with her. Alex wanted to stretch her legs and get some air. The only time she has been out of her room is when she needed to use the bathroom. She goes down the stairs, Nanaki and Yuffie were in the living room.

"Hey guys" she greets, They jerk to her.

"Well glad to see you up" Nanaki says smiling.

"Yay! Does this mean you're feeling better?" Yuffie happily says.

"Not completely but I'm getting there" Alex replies.

"Were is everybody?" she asks.

"Their around here somewhere" Nanaki says, laying on the floor

"I'm going outside for a bit" Alex informs, opening the front door.

"You want us to come with you?" Yuffie questions.

"No it's ok" Alex replies.

"Well please be careful Cloud will have a fit if you come back worse the when you left" Nanaki says.

Alex giggles loudly "I'll be fine don't worry" she ensures them walking out the door.

It was mid day. The sky was clear and it was a lil breezy. Alex went down to the lake and stood at the shore. She wasn't there long, Tifa shows up next to her.

"Good to see you up and about" Tifa says.

"Yea I just needed to get out" Alex replies.

"When can we take this off my face?" she questions, playing with one corner of the bandages.

"How about right now?" Tifa answers, Alex smiles and nods frantically.

Tifa slowly peels it off, her reaction upon its reveal concerned Alex. "What?" she asks.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Tifa replies.

Alex gets closer to the lake. The water was calm it can be easily used as a mirror. Alex leans over, she could see the wound clearly. It was an inch wide gash about 6 inches long, it still red and swollen. "Oh my god" Alex whispers.

"We can cover it back up if you want" Tifa says.

"No let the air get to it and I might as well get used to it being there" Alex states, touching the sides of it.

Tifa was amazed at how well she was taking this. It was the same as with Yazline. She could tell that Alex had changed a lot from when they first met. She was always so shy and uncomfortable when it came to certain things. She thought Alex had grown and matured so much being with them but still managed stay true to herself. "I'm gonna go to the ship I need to change" Alex tells her.

"Ok we'll be inside the house" Tifa informs.

They split, the ship wasn't to far. Alex walks into her room sits on floor and goes threw her bags. Cloud comes out from his room and is about to head for the house when he hears sounds coming from the girls room. The door was partially open he sees Alex inside. "Hey I didn't think you would be getting around on your own so soon" he says, stepping into the room.

Alex's left side was facing him hiding the wound. "Yeah I felt good enough to venture out I'm just trying to find something to change into" she replies not looking at him.

"Well that's great happy to hear it" he says, crouching down next to her.

"Just don't over do it" he adds tilting his head.

"I wont" she assures him, she starts to turn to face him, but stops herself thinking of the wound. She suddenly became self conscious of it.

"At this rate you'll be one hundred percent in no time" he states.

"Yea" she says, not moving.

Cloud notices that she is purposely keeping her left side to him "What's the matter?" he questions.

"Nothing" she answers, moving her eyes to him then back to what she was doing.

"Really? Then why wont you look at me?" he asks.

"No reason" she replies.

Cloud wasn't buying it. He reaches one hand out and grips her chin. Alex jerks from him moving her head slightly more to the right. He places his whole hand on her right cheek forcing her to turn to him. He was shocked seeing the mark on her face. Alex couldn't move her head but she looked away from him.

"I know it's horrible isn't it?" she says ,closing her eyes.

"It's not that bad but you also have to factor in that its not healed yet" he comforts.

She glances up at him and smiles, it made her feel better knowing that it didn't make him think any different of her. "Besides I think it's kind of sexy" he flirts.

Alex squints and makes a funny face at him "How?" she asks.

"It's gonna set you apart from everyone else if you don't count you're visions that is" he replies.

Alex smiled and felt her face get hot. She never received a compliment like that but she didn't want to make the wound bleed because of her blushing she changes the subject.

"Cloud I've been thinking" she starts to say.

"About?" he questions.

Alex gets up "You said Sephiroth was the best of Shinra right?" she states.

"Yea he's a skilled fighter why do you ask?" he says standing.

"Well that's what I don't get if he is that good then why am I alive?" she says, Cloud stares at her confused he isn't sure what she's getting at.

"Think about it Cloud Sephiroth was the former commander of soldier I doubt he wasn't given his title simply because he was the first of them it was because he is formidable in battle he's more than capable in killing me but he didn't" she adds.

The wheels in Cloud's head start to turn "You maybe on to something" he says.

Alex gets a weird sensation in her body. It happened while staring at Cloud's chest and arms during their conversation. It was a feeling she wasn't familiar with. All she knew is that it made her want him. She moves closer to him.

"Cloud? Are we alone?" she asks, quietly almost a whisper.

"I'm pretty sure why?" he replies.

She unbuckles his pack and his shoulder pad dropping them on the floor behind him.

"What are you doing?" he questions.

Alex undoes the button on his pants, sticks her hands up his shirt, and gazes deep into his eyes. One of his brows lifts up staring at her, he was baffled at her boldness. He knew from the look she was giving him what her intention was.

"Are you sure about this? What about your wound?" he questions.

"Do I look like I care?" she asks.

Cloud doesn't hesitate. He Grabs her face with one hand while the other as they kissed went on her waist. Alex takes his shirt off putting it with his pack and pad. He lifts hers over her head also removing her bra throwing them near his clothes. He lays her down on the bed him on top of her. He kisses her neck, moving all the way down in between her breasts to her stomach then works his way back up to her lips. Her hands stayed around his neck. He kicks off his shoes she does the same. She unzips his pants, he pulls them off taking her bottoms with them. Now naked, they resume kissing it climbing to a more passionate level. After a few minutes Cloud presses his forehead on hers.

"You ready?" he whispers.

"Yea" she says, under her breathe.

He lifts his body up a lil and peers down. She felt him slowly slip inside of her. She scrunches her whole face and lets out a slight yelp from the pain. He stops and hovers over her.

"You ok? You want to stop?" he questions.

"I'm fine just go slow" she whispers.

He pushes the rest of himself in. Alex squints and grits her teethe. His pelvis moves back and forth going in and out of her. Even though he was doing what she asked it still hurt but after some time it actually started to feel good. So good, that she began to moan. He was to but not like her his were very quiet.

"I think you can go a lil faster now" she says, he smiles and continues quickening his pace.

Alex's moans were getting louder motivating him to keep going. Without her telling him he goes even faster. Leaning in kissing her every so often. He moves to her neck keeping his head there holding one of her thighs. Alex digs her fingers into his back every thrust was better than the last. She could hear his heavy breathing and felt it on her neck. A new feeling came out turning into an explosion of pleasure shocking her body. She grips some his hair it made her eyes roll back.

"Oh my god!" she screams, moaning louder than before.

It lasted for a bit then ended just as quick as it happened. Cloud lifts his head up and looks at her.

"What was that?" he asks, panting with a chuckle.

"I think I just had an orgasm" she whispers, in intervals her breathing was erratic her body shook uncontrollably.

"A what?" he questions shaking his head.

"Trust me it's a good thing" she laughs.

"You're shaking" he says, watching her lips shudder he also could feel her body tremble against his.

"It's ok" she says.

"I guess it's safe to say were done" he jokes.

Alex didn't want it to be over but her wound was beginning to hurt a lil and she didn't want to over exert herself she guessed it's what Cloud was thinking as well.

"Yea" she giggles. He kisses her once more and pulls the covers over them. He switches positions with her, he now on the bed ,she laying on his chest. He puts one arm behind his head the other was on shoulder. She feels something cold on her cheek. She pulls it out from under her. It was the necklace that she gave to him.

"You still wear it" she says fiddling with the pendant.

"I told you I haven't taken it off" he replies. She smiles and starts to glide her fingers along his chest. The hand on her shoulder moves to her head playing with her hair.

"By the way I noticed during that you were bleeding" he says. It took Alex a minute to figure out what he ment.

"That's what happens when it's a woman's first time" she replies.

"Really ? I didn't know" he states. Alex pops up staring at him practically speechless.

"You mean?" she only manages to say.

"That's right" he tells her, flicking one brow up smiling at her.

"Wow I wasn't expecting that" she giggles. Cloud gives her a funny look.

"Is it that surprising?" he questions.

"Well ya not for nothing Cloud but you're a good looking guy you can have any girl you want" she answers.

"Thanks" he says smiling.

"No problem" she replies with a wide smile. He pushes her head to him kissing her. She then lays back down on his chest. Something jumps into the front of her mind. She's been wanting to ask him this for a while.

"Cloud? What are we?" she questions.

"What do you mean?" he says puzzled.

"You…me…what would you consider us?" she continues.

"So you want to put a label on it huh?" he says with a slight sigh.

"What's wrong with that?" she replies.

"Alex this is all you need to know" he says, lifting her head up by her chin. Their eyes locked in a sort of trans.

"You're mine and I'm yours" he whispers. She bites her lip trying not to smile but does it anyway.

"I like that answer" she says.

"Good" he replies.

"So when are we gonna tell the others?" she questions. He rubs his face.

"You can tells the girls if you want the guys wont care either way" he answers.

"Speaking of witch I was supposed to go back to the house for a meeting and that was about an hour ago" he adds, getting off the bed, he puts on his pants.

"Oh sorry" she laughs.

"It's ok it was worth it" he says zipping up. Alex grins checking out his half naked body. He sees her looking at him out of the corner of his eye, he turns to her.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing" she replies, biting one of her index fingers.

He smiles and continues. He sits on the bed to lace on his boots. "Oh and this meeting you need to be there to" he informs her.

"Ok you go ahead I'll be there soon" she says. He gives her a quick kiss on the lips and leaves. Alex falls back on the bed.

"That was amazing" she says excited.

"Siren's gonna flip when she finds out" she laughs.

She slaps one hand on her face but forgot about the wound. "Ow! Oh geez that was dumb" she says with a groan. Turning a happy moment into a painful one.

Cloud enters the living room. "Were the hell have yeh been? We've been waiting for ya" Cid says.

"Yea what took you so long?" Yuffie asks.

"I was busy" Cloud replies, staying near the door.

"Busy? With what?" Cid questions.

Alex then comes in, wearing different clothes. "It's about time you came back I was just going to come get you" Tifa says.

Alex already conjured up an excuse while still in the ship. "I was trying to find comfy clothes I would have been here a lot sooner if someone didn't throw out my old ones" she states, now standing next to Yuffie.

"Hey they needed to go" Yuffie defends. Alex cant help but stare at Cloud, he reciprocates. He winks at her making her feel giddy. Siren sat at the table arms folded giving Alex the evil eye. It didn't phase her she ignored it.

"Alright Now that we are all here what is next after this?" Nanaki questions.

"That's easy stop Sephiroth" Yuffie lets out.

"How?" Barret asks.

"Duh what we did the last time beat his ass then go home!" Yuffie shouts.

"This is not the same situation as two years ago" Vincent says.

"Why not? It's the same Sephiroth why shouldn't the outcome be any different?" Tifa states.

"Because there are other elements at play he's not doing this on his own he has people following him that alone complicates things" Cloud says, his arms loosely folded.

Alex just sat back and stayed out of the way. _But suddenly, all of Alex's key senses go haywire. She could barley get air into her lungs falling to her knees._

"Alex!" Cloud says, rushing to her side. Everyone reacts the same way. Siren remained seated. Alex regains control of her body and stands up.

"What was it?" Cloud asks.

"There moving from the base to a different location" she replies.

"What!" Barret yells.

"Where?" Tifa questions.

"They didn't say" Alex answers.

"Damn it now what are we gonna do?" Cid says angrily. The group talked in the back round Alex was in her own mind trying to put things together. Like, why did they need to move? Why Mako or materia? Why so much manpower if Sephiroth could do it by himself? Alex focused on the word 'power'. She also thought the tubes she saw while in the base resembled the tubes in her vision at Zack's grave. Materia she didn't know the reason but Mako has changing properties. Cloud informed at a different time that in order to manipulate Mako the right facility was needed. A light bulb goes on in her head.

"I know were there going" she blurts out. Everyone stops talking.

"How?" Yuffie asks.

"It all makes sense now granted we still don't know what he is doing but from what I've come to understand is Mako can be hard and dangerous to control that base wasn't the place to do it not enough power to keep the Mako stable so he's leaving for somewhere that does have the means…Midgar" Alex explains.

The room falls silent "Your positive?" Cloud questions.

"It's were it all started isn't it?" she asks.

"Good work" Cloud compliments, rubbing her head.

"It's what I do" Alex says, with a big smile laughter echoed threw the room.

"First things first that wound needs to heal after that it's off to Midgar" Cloud firmly orders.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It took almost a week for Alex to fully heal. It was finally the day to leave for Midgar. They all including Siren stood at the ship entrance saying their good byes.

"You guys be safe ok? Please come out of this alive" Siren says.

"We'll be alright Siren don't you worry" Nanaki insists.

"Yea we'll kick his butt then have a party at my place and your invited!" Yuffie yells while jumping.

Everyone laughed mostly at how confident Yuffie is being. "I can't wait now go there isn't much time" Siren says, waving them off.

They enter into the ship, it lifts off a few minutes later. Alex went into the engine room to check things over it had been a while. She was doing log ins when she was interrupted "Good to see things are back to normal" she hears.

She turns and sees Tifa standing in the room. "Oh hey" Alex greets, she commences writing in the log book.

"How does your wound feel?" Tifa questions walking to her then touching it.

"Its fine I don't have any pain and it's not really a wound anymore it's just a scar now" Alex answers.

"Well I'll let you get back to work I'll see ya later" Tifa says leaving.

"Ok bye" Alex says, just as she left the room.

Alex was in the engine room most of the time. Everything seemed to be in working order. She exits and goes to her room, Tifa and Yuffie were on their beds talking. "Ok so its settled when this is all said and done we're gonna find us some men" Yuffie says.

Alex who was at her beauru, looking at her face threw a mirror stops and jerks her head to them. "What the hell are you talking about?" Alex asks.

"When were done with what we have to do me and Tifa are going guy shopping and you are coming with us" Yuffie informs.

Alex stares at her and blinks a few times. "Uh…that's not necessary" she declines.

"Um excuse me you got to get out there it needs to happen Tifa and I will help you" Yuffie continues.

"And I'm telling you that I don't need help" Alex snaps, looking back into the mirror.

"Alex come on face it when it comes to men your clueless with a lil practice I'm sure you'll meet the guy for you one day" Yuffie says, now sitting at the end of her bed.

"I know the thought of it is scary but we will help you figure it out" Tifa says calmly.

Alex thought that Tifa knew about her and Cloud. She certainly gave the impression that she did at Siren's. But, in any case Alex knew to get them to stop this she had to finally come clean. Cloud did give her permission to after all. "What if I already figured it out?" Alex says, her back still to them.

Tifa and Yuffie make confused faces "Huh?" they both say in unison.

Alex sits on her bed they were on either side of her "I don't need help because I'm with someone" Alex informs.

Tifa and Yuffie's mouths drop "What?" Tifa screams.

"Who?" Yuffie shouts, they scoot closer to her.

"Cloud" Alex answers.

They each let out a scream. Alex had to cover her ears it was so loud. "What the hell? You and him are you serious!" Yuffie asks.

"Yea" Alex replies.

"How long has this been going on?" Tifa questions.

"Since Edge City" Alex answers ,squinting one eye.

"And why didn't you tell us!" Yuffie shouts, standing up, hands on her hips.

"I think Cloud wanted to wait till we became serious" Alex says.

Yuffie was about so say something but stopped. She stared at Alex intently "Serious huh? What does that mean?" Yuffie asks ,grinning at Alex.

"Um…" Alex mumbles, she starts to turn red.

Yuffie leaps on to her bed "You two had sex didn't you!" Yuffie yells, shaking her.

Alex pulls herself away "Yea" she answers smiling.

They scream again this time even louder. "When did this happen?" Tifa asks.

"A week ago" Alex replies.

"Remember when he was late for the meeting?" she adds giggling.

"Yea he was busy alright" Yuffie jokes, they all laugh hysterically.

"So how was it?" Tifa questions.

"It hurt at first then felt incredible" she answers with a very wide smile.

"You know I did have a slight feeling that something was going on between you two but I didn't want to assume" Tifa states.

"Well now you know" Alex says.

A few knocks echo threw the door "Come in!" Tifa shouts.

The door opens, Cloud pokes his head in. "Everything ok in here? I can here you guys screaming from the bridge" he asks concerned.

Tifa and Yuffie couldn't answer all they did was giggle "Were fine girl stuff you know how that is" Alex replies, smiling at him.

"You sure?" he says, both of them still giggling.

"Yea" Alex insists.

"Hey Cloud are you gonna be busy later?" Yuffie asks, Tifa tried to hold it in but her laughter spewed out of her mouth causing Yuffie to laugh as well.

"Oh god" Alex groans, partially covering her face with one hand, her left eye on Cloud.

He made a funny face at first, he didn't know what that ment but then he thought about it a lil more and the look Alex was giving him said it all "Oh man you told them didn't you?" Cloud asks her, rubbing his cheek.

"Yea she did you stud you" Yuffie says going over, giving him a nudge.

Cloud rolls his eyes fighting a smile. "So you two are official?" Tifa questions.

Cloud stares into Alex's eyes. The feeling he had was the same as when he first looked into them under the tree. He never imagined after Aerith that he would ever feel this way again. "Yea we're together" he answers with a smile.

Alex is surprised remembering what he said about labeling them. Yuffie jumps for joy around the room. "I'm happy for you both" Tifa says, smiling ear to ear.

"You guys are gonna make cute babies!" Yuffie shouts, still jumping.

Alex and Cloud made the same shocked face at one another. "Ok and with that I'm out" Cloud says, closing the door behind him. Alex just shakes her head rubbing her eyes.

The ship lands a few miles outside of Midgar with Edge City a few more miles to the right. Tomorrow was designated day. Everyone seemed raring to go but, Alex felt uneasy about it. She needed to gather her thoughts, she went on the deck to do so. Midgar, was in plain sight. Alex viewing it, got a bad feeling in her gut. Something felt wrong about going in there. She wasn't getting any visions so she wrote it off as just her nerves. However, the last time she shrugged things off ended with the scar. She leans on the railing in a daze. In the mean time, Cloud had been searching for her. He then has and idea of were she might be and heads for the deck. He opens the door and sees her at the railing staring off into the distance. "Hey I've been looking for ya" he says, walking to her.

She turns to him and smiles "Hey" she greets, he stands next to her.

"You ok?" he asks, her expression concerned him.

"I'm worried about tomorrow Cloud" she admits.

"It's only natural to be" he says.

She goes to the seat and partially sits on it. He stays at the railing "I just want this to be over and done with already" she sighs, her eyes now on the floor.

"I know we all do" he states.

"Cloud I'm really scared" she says.

Cloud goes over and climbs on to the empty spot a few inches from her. He reaches out, grabbing her waist and pulls her to him. He makes her sit on his lap, back to him, she lays on his left shoulder. His arms wrap around her "We're all scared Alex but it helps that we have each other" he says into her left ear.

Alex holds both hands tight on to one of his arms "Yea" she replies.

He starts lightly kissing her neck, Alex giggles because it was tickling her. "Cloud" she laughs, he continues kissing her.

She wrestles with him to break free but he doesn't let go. "Cloud come on stop" she pleads laughing louder, he keeps going.

"Look at them" Yuffie softly whispers to Tifa, they had been spying on them from the door.

"We shouldn't be doing this" Tifa quietly says.

"I can't help it their so cute together I never thought of Cloud as the lovey dovey type but she brings it out it's nice to see him finally happy" Yuffie replies smiling.

Tifa watches them more "Yea it is" she says, smiling too.

Alex and Cloud were still messing around, he now had her pinned down using his body on the seat. He leans in, kissing her lips. Alex feels eyes on them, she makes him stop. "What's the matter?" he questions.

"We have an audience" she smiles.

He rolls his eyes "Let me guess… the girls….right?" he says, she nods her head.

Annoyed, he gets off of her. "Stay here I have an idea" he whispers.

He runs toward the railing, jumps over it, and climbs down the other side. Alex isn't sure what he has up his sleeve, she stays on the seat and waits for him.

"Were is he going?" Yuffie asks, trying not to be loud.

"I don't know Alex is still there though" Tifa whispers.

"Ehem" is said behind them.

They whip around, Cloud was standing with his arms folded glaring at them. "Having fun?" he asks.

"Crap" Yuffie says.

"It's Yuffie's fault I wanted to leave" Tifa blames, pointing to Yuffie.

"Hey! You had plenty of opportunity to walk away but u didn't!" Yuffie yells.

"Stop it your both guilty" he says.

"Do I dare even ask why?" he adds.

"Cloud lets face it you never joke around your always serious and sometimes seem almost sad then she came along and suddenly you're a whole different person you smile and even laugh we just like the new you" Yuffie replies.

Cloud didn't want to admit it but she was right. Ever since she joined them Alex slowly with out intention broke down his wall lil by lil that he had up for years. He didn't notice the change until now "Yea me too" he smiles.

"Ok we'll go" Tifa says, tugging on Yuffie's arm.

"Give her a big wet smooch for me!" Yuffie shouts.

Cloud lets out a sigh and chuckles a bit before going back out on to the deck.

To have more privacy, Cloud lead Alex to his room. Going in, it was neat and tidy. His bed was up against the wall on the other end of the room. Weirdly, there was also a desk and chair at the foot of it. Piles and piles of books were stack high on top of it. "Wow" Alex lets out, touching a few of the bindings.

"What?" he questions.

"That's a lot of books did you read all of these?" she replies.

He nods, goes over, and grabs a one that was off set from the rest. "All except this one" he says, handing it to her.

She looked at the cover, the title read "The Trained Eye". "What is this about?" she asks.

"It teaches you to see things others wouldn't normally notice" he answers.

"It almost sounds like the visions I have" she states, putting it back on the desk.

"Well I could never be as good as you when it comes to that but I'll take what I can get" he says, he unbuckles his pack and drapes it on the chair.

Alex walks to a wall near the bed then turns to him "This is a surprise I didn't take you for a avid reader" she states.

"Well I wouldn't say avid I just like to" he says.

"What was you're first vision?" he questions.

"You" she answers, smiling at him.

"Me?" he says puzzled.

"Yea of coarse I didn't know it was you at first it took a lil while before I realized it kind of freaked me out" she replies.

"What do you think the reason was?" he asks.

Alex folds her arms and stares at the floor "Maybe we were ment to meet" she replies.

looking at him.

He smiles and walks over to her. One of his hands goes to the back of her head, he presses his forehead on hers. "I want you so bad right now" he whispers.

She giggles and grips his shirt "What are you waiting for then?" she says seductively, he kisses her as they fall on to his bed.

The sun had barley rose but everyone was up. They held one final meeting before heading out. "I want you all to stay together if we have to split up do it in small groups I don't want anyone by themselves " Cloud orders.

Everyone was in agreement, they leave the ship and walk to Midgar. They snuck in a small opening in the east side. The debris from the fallen city made good cover for them.

"Cloud I don't like this it's to quiet" Tifa whispers, Cloud was thinking the same thing.

"Well its about time you showed up" is heard just above them, everyone's heads lift up.

Carnak was standing on the ledge of a building half crumbled "I was beginning to worry" he adds.

Cloud unsheathes his sword " Sorry you keep you waiting" he says, in a condescending tone. "I see you waste no time very well then" Carnak replies, he holds out his hand and waves it.

A hoard of people and creatures spill out into the area attacking on all sides. It was hard for them to keep an eye on each other and fight at the same time. Slowly, but surely the enemy start to fall. Alex was watching everyone, she was hiding behind a car that was tipped on it's side. _She has a flash in her mind of some one creeping up behind her. _She grabs hold of her knives, spins around and lunges for them. A clanging sound echoes. Her opponent, was a woman. She blocked Alex's griffins with her sword. The woman uses all of her weight and pinned Alex' body up against a broken off wall. Alex shoves her off and punches her in the face. She drops to the ground and doesn't move. "Damn that hurt" she says holding her hand.

She then feels her hair being pulled from behind her. Carnak had made his way to her, he hovers one hand over her face. A pink light shines out of it "Sleep" he says. Alex's eyes become heavy, she looses consciousness.

Vincent, shoots down a few people and creatures with Barret. Nanaki, Yuffie, and Tifa handled creatures back to back. Cid and Cloud had just finished with their batch. "Wait is it just me? Or did it seem like there were a lot more of em'?" Cid questions.

"Yeah" Cloud answers.

"Cid! Cloud!" Yuffie yells, they run up and meet each other.

"You guys all ok?" Cloud asks.

"Were fine you?" Nanaki replies, Cid and Cloud nod.

"Weird how they just left out of no where" Yuffie states.

"I noticed that to" Vincent says.

"Hold on where's Alex?" Tifa shouts.

"She wasn't with you?" Cid questions.

"No" Tifa answers .

"Ok we seriously need to work on our communication skills" Cloud remarks.

"In any case it explains everything they got what they wanted" Cloud adds.

"What is it I wonder" Nanaki thinks out loud.

"Do you remember what I told you? What Carnak said to me? He said they're plans were at a completion but a piece was missing Alex told me that she thought it was funny that she was left alive when Sephiroth could have easily killed her it's cuz she's the missing element" Cloud informs.

"What the hell for?" Tifa questions.

"I don't know we have to find her lets go" he answers. They run straight for the Shinra building.

Alex wakes and tries to move. Not being able to, she looks to either side of her and sees that her arms are locked in place and stretched out. She moves her focus around the room. It was a laboratory of some sorts. She lifts her head up, a glass tube hovered over her. She turns to her left, the same set up she was in sat a few feet from her. She remembers now, these were the tubes her, Cloud, and Tifa came across at the base. "Ah it finally wore off I see" is echoed, Carnak walks to her and stops at the controls right in front of her.

"Let me out of this!" Alex screams, trying to free herself.

"You can try all you want but its no use" he replies.

"Is it ready yet?" another deeper voice comes in.

Sephiroth steps over to Carnak "Yes sir all that is needed is your word and we can get started" Carnak says.

"Good" Sephiroth replies.

"Wait what the hell are you going to do! Alex shouts.

Sephiroth get closer to her "You mean you haven't been shown?" he asks, Alex doesn't answer.

He lets out a chuckle, "During my time here at Shinra I came across a research study it was called 'power transference' it was figured out that a person with powers such as yourself can be given to another like me for instance" he explained.

"I don't understand" Alex says confused.

"Basically the power of sight that you have would be given to me don't worry you wont loose your powers they will simply be copied " he continues.

Alex had the look of fear on her face "But why? Your already powerful enough" she remarks.

"Yes but with your ability I would be unstoppable" he says, he sees the scar on her face.

He grabs her chin and tilts her head up to him "Hmm that didn't heal very well did it? Well it's to be expected when mako gets in the blood" he adds.

"Mako?" she says, he lets her go.

"In order for the transference to be successful both parties cells needed to be mixed my cells are also imprinted with mako on my sword and when I cut you your blood was then imprinted on my cells" he informed.

Alex was in disbelief from what she was hearing "So you think you can do this and get away with it? The planet won't stand for this its given to people of its choosing!.." he cuts her off.

"I don't give a damn about the planet!" he snaps.

He goes to the other tube "Lets begin" he orders.

A man in a lab coat comes out and works the controls, Carnak stood next to him observing. The glass tubes move down on to the both of them, a switch is flipped. Waves of electricity zip threw Alex's body, it was so painful it was making her scream. Ten minutes pass, then it finally stops. Alex passes out. Sephiroth emerges and stands with Carnak "Well?" he asks.

"No wonder she resisted what unbelievable power she has" Sephiroth replies.

A smile appears threw his lips. "We have company" he informs.

A wall blasts apart, Cloud and the others rush in. "Ah welcome" Sephiroth greets.

Cloud sees Alex hanging from the arm clamps in the tube. "What did you do to her!" he questions angrily.

"It doesn't matter you're to late her powers are now mine" Sephiroth answers with a smile.

"What!" Yuffie yells shocked.

"So that was your plan all along you wanted her ability" Cloud states.

"With this the planet will now be under my control" Sephiroth laughs.

"Not while we're around" Cloud says, he leaps after him, everyone follows suit.

Sephiroth blocks every attack thrown at him "You're attempts are wasted I can predict every move you make" Sephiroth says.

Carnak joined in the fight as well, Nanaki and Yuffie were handling him while the others took on Sephiroth. He was a hand full before, but now with his newly acquired power it was impossible to land a hit on him. While this was going on, Alex hears a woman's voice call to her "Alexihona…Alexihona…" is repeated until she opens her eyes.

"Who is that?" she whispers, raising her head up.

A silhouette of a woman who resembled Alex stood facing her. "I can't believe how grown up you are" she says.

Alex shakes her head, she thinks she is hallucinating. "This is not your imagination it's real" she says.

"I am sorry that our time together was cut very short Alexihona I hope you don't hate me for it" she adds.

"Who are you?" Alex questions.

"You were such a beautiful baby when you were born I was so overjoyed your were my bright star" she answers.

Alex is stunned "Mother?" she quivers.

The figure nods, "I am so proud of you Alexihona and know that I love you I loved you even before I held you in my arms" she says smiling.

Alex felt her eyes tearing up "Alexihona it's time to awaken now" she adds.

"Awaken? What to you mean?" Alex asks.

"You have more power inside you than you could ever imagine it's time to awaken it" she replies.

"I don't know how" Alex stutters, a few tears drip down.

"Yes you do you've always known you just have to believe it" she says.

"Awaken Alexihona" she repeats firmly.

Alex's body begins to pulsate, she can feel immense energy flowing threw her veins. The tube Alex was in suddenly explodes halting the fight. Alex comes out of the smoke, her eyes glowed bright white the pupils completely gone.

"What the? Alex?" Yuffie shouts everyone was shocked.

"Well this just got interesting" Sephiroth laughs.

"Seems I underestimated you" he adds.

"Everybody get out of the way" Alex orders, they all step back.

Alex holds out her arms white balls of light burst from her palms. They die down, she is now holding her griffins.

"Whoa" Tifa says.

"Holy shit" Cids lets out.

Alex glares at Sephiroth then charges him. Lights flash out from them as they clashed. He swings his sword at her, she disappears and reappears behind him. He swung at her again, she blocks with her knives and kicks him. It sent him flying into a wall at the other end of the room.

"Wow who knew that Alex was such a badass" Yuffie says.

"I can't believe that's her" Cloud says, in amazement.

Alex runs full force at him, they collide, the power from it sent them threw the wall witch led to outside. The group followed, they find her by herself laying on the ground. Cloud touches her shoulder "Alex?" he calls to her, she sits up and rubs her head.

"What happened were is he?" Cloud questions.

" I don't know he got away from me before I landed" she answers.

"You rest here you did good" he says, he stands and rounds the corner.

He walks a bit and stops to search "What a nuisance I didn't expect that" Sephiroth remarks dropping in front of him.

"What your new powers didn't see that coming? What a shame" Cloud jokes.

"I'll have the last laugh" he says.

There voices and swords can be heard from the groups position "Cloud must of found him" Tifa says.

"Alex you were great!" Yuffie compliments.

"Got to say that was impressive" Nanaki adds.

"Thanks" she giggles, she realizes at this point were she is.

She stands up, "Alex what's wrong?" Tifa questions.

"I've been here before" she answers.

"How?" Cid asks.

"It was a dream I had" she replies, her eyes widen.

"Oh no!" she shouts, she runs to find them.

"Alex wait!" Barret yells, they go after her.

Alex comes to the same spot she was in her dream, "Shut up!" Cloud screams.

He leaps to him, Sephiroth blocks and throws him backwards, he hitting his head on concrete. Sephiroth stands over him, his sword pointed at Cloud's stomach. He turns his head to Alex then back. Alex knows what's coming next she runs as fast as she can to them. "End of the line" Sephiroth remarks, he lifts his sword backwards and thrusts it.

Cloud closes his eyes then hears a strange sound. He opens them, Alex was standing in between them. The sword had impaled her threw her stomach and using her knives in a X formation, she stopped the blade from hitting Cloud. His expression was blank thoughts couldn't be put into words. Sephiroth flings his sword upward causing her to detach from it. She hit's the ground hard a few yards away. "Now that I saw coming" he chuckles.

Cloud is now enraged, he grabs his sword and swings at him. Sephiroth dodges it, "You'll pay for that" Cloud growls gritting his teethe.

The others find them and see Alex lying motionless. They rush to her side, blood was oozing from her body. "Oh geez Alex hold on" Tifa says, Cloud and Sephiroth continued with their fight.

Cloud was having a slight problem keeping up with him. He needed to do something about it and quick. It comes to him, he remembered the materia Siren had given him, he reaches into his pack. Sephiroth lunges at him, he stops him with his sword and holds up his arm. A dark purple energy spills out and completely covers Sephiroth's body. It hangs around for a minute then goes back into his arm. Cloud darts at him, he's now able to land a few blows. He repeated this process until Sephiroth was weakened enough to be to finish him. "End of the line" Cloud says, his body glows yellow.

He unleashes omnislash, he thrashes at Sephiroth leaving him no window to strike back. Sephiroth drops to his knees, Cloud slices him one more time. His lifeless body flops down, Cloud takes a few breathes then runs to the group. He bursts threw and grabs hold of Alex, she looks up at him "Is he dead?" she asks, her voice was very horse.

"Yes" Cloud answers.

"Good" she says.

"You idiot why did you do that?" he replies.

"Why wouldn't I?" she states.

"Any one have potions?" Tifa screams, they all fumble threw their pockets.

"No stop…stop" Alex commands.

"Alex let us fix it" Cloud pleads.

Alex shakes her head "The mako will keep it from healing it's just like my scar" she informs.

"Alex please we have to try" Nanaki adds.

"No this was supposed to happen" Alex replies coughing.

"Alex don't do this" Cloud says.

"It will be alright" she assures.

"No please don't leave me I need you we need you" he replies.

Alex puts her hand on his heart, he places his over hers. "Remember what I said? I may not be here any more but it doesn't mean I'll be completely gone" she says, she turns to everyone else.

"You take care of him ok?" she asks, Yuffie and Tifa begin to cry.

Alex felt herself slip away, she closes her eyes, her arm goes limp. "Alex! No please!" Cloud yells, the girls continued to cry holding each other.

The boys hung their heads down, "Oh Alex" Nanaki whispers.

A river of tears streamed down Cloud's face, he lets out a blood curdling scream. He holds her close his cheek against hers. They all could hear him sobbing, "Cloud" Tifa whispers hugging him.

Alex's vision is a lil foggy. She rubs her eyes and sees she's in a dark room with green lights circling around her "What happened? Where am I?" she says out loud.

"You're at the border of life and death" a voice answers.

A woman materializes facing her smiling, she was wearing all pink. "We meet at last" she says, Alex recognizes her.

"Aerith?" she says. "Yup" she replies.

"I don't get it what's going on?" she questions.

Another voice comes threw "Is she here yet?".

A man that Alex also recognizes appears. "Zack?" she says.

"Hi" he greets.

"I'm confused" Alex states.

"The planet asked us to stop you from entering the life stream" Aerith informs.

"You kept your word so in return the planet is sending you back" she adds.

Alex is dumbfounded "I don't understand" she says.

"I thought she was supposed to be smart?" Zack says.

"Look you did your part now the planet is giving you a second chance" he continues.

The ground lights up around her feet "Tell Cloud we said hi ok?" is the last thing she hears before everything goes black.

Cloud hasn't moved, he still held on to her continuing to cry. "What are we gonna do now?" Yuffie cries out, Tifa moves from Cloud to her.

Cid had to distance himself a bit, it was the same for Vincent an Barret. The way Cloud had her his ear was right next to her mouth. He hears a sound come from her. He pops his head up, he hears it again this time a lil louder. "Guys!" he shouts.

They gather around him "What is it?" Tifa asks.

"Listen" Cloud replies, they sit in silence and wait.

A loud moan comes from her. "Alex!" Cloud yells.

Alex opens her eyes and looks at him. "Hey you" she says.

"Your alive!" Yuffie yells, jumping around.

"You scared the hell out of me" Cloud says.

"Sorry" she apologizes.

"You're crying" she adds, wiping his face.

"I thought I lost you" he says.

"That will never happen" she replies smiling, his kisses her lips.

"Hey now" Yuffie giggles.

Cid and Barret laugh, Nanaki and Tifa both smile, Vincent rolls his eyes and turns away.

Clouds pulls back "I love you" he whispers.

Alex is surprised "I love you too" she whispers, back smiling. "Lets get the hell outta here" Cids says.

"Barret take her" Cloud orders.

Barret holds her in his arms he made sure she stayed flat. They bring her to the bar in Edge city, she is put into Clouds bed. It took all night and a lot of potions to at least stop the bleeding. In the coming weeks, Alex was able to move and walk a lil on her own. Cloud enters his room, Alex was in a deep sleep.

He sits with her "Alex" he says, rubbing her cheek with the back of his hand, it woke her.

"Hey" he says.

"Hi" she whispers.

She sits up, "What is it?" she asks.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking" he replies.

"About?" she asks.

"Us Alex since you came into my life I've been saying and doing things I never thought I would you even helped me with my phobia when I'm with you I'm happy its been a long time since I've felt that way you bring out the best in me" he says, his hand goes into his pack.

"When I thought you were you were dead I almost lost it I felt like a part of me died with you then you came back and I realized how much you really mean to me" he continues, his hand comes out holding something.

"Witch is why I decided that I wasn't going to let go never again" he adds, he opens his hand.

A box sat in his palm, he opens it. Inside, was a silver ring with a good sized diamond in the middle of it. Alex's mouth drops, she almost falls over. "Alex will you marry me?" Cloud questions.

Alex's heart pounds heavily, she was finding it hard to breathe. "Are you serious?" she manages to say.

Cloud smiles and nods, Alex couldn't believe this was happening she thought for a minute she was dreaming. She pinches her self, it hurt, this was real. She Gazes into his eyes and smiles "Yes of coarse I will!" she answers excited.

Cloud removes the ring from the box and puts it on her finger. He grabs her face and kisses her. He stops and rests his head on hers. "Oh my god… wow" she says staring at the ring.

"Lets go tell them" he says smiling, she gets out of bed.

He had to help her down the stairs, he guides her to the counter so she can sit. "Hey there she is!" Yuffie says sitting next to her.

Cloud stood at the end of the counter arms folded. Tifa, Nikki, and Riya come over on the other side of the counter.

"So how are you feeling?" Tifa questions.

"Really good" Alex answers smiling.

"Well I'm glad to finally see you moving around" Tifa says.

Alex puts her left hand under her chin. Riya immediately sees the ring "What's that?" she asks.

"Oh this?" Alex replies, holding her hand up.

"Is that what I think it is!" Yuffie shouts.

"Yup" Alex laughs.

They all scream together and hug Alex. Cloud smiles watching them "You guys are engaged!" Tifa asks Cloud, he nods.

"Cute babies!" Yuffie yells, jumping around.

Cloud goes over to them "Alright don't smother the poor thing" he says, pushing them away.

"When's the date?" Nikki questions.

"We haven't talked about that yet" he answers.

"Well get a move on I want to be an auntie damn it!" Yuffie yells, pointing a finger at them.

"Relax Yuffie there's plenty of time for that" he says.

"I need to lay down" Alex informs.

Cloud picks her up and carries her back to his room. He Lightly places her on his bed and pulls the covers on her "Oh by the way I forgot to tell you Aerith and Zack said Hi" she tells him, Cloud looks at her wide eyed.

"You saw them? When?" he asks.

"Before I woke up in Midgar they stopped me from going into the life stream" she replies.

Cloud fights his tears and climbs into bed, wrapping her in his arms. "I'm glad you got to meet them" he says.

"So am I" she agrees.

"I love you Alex" he whispers.

"I love you too Cloud" she whispers back. He kisses her neck, they fall asleep together.

The End


End file.
